THE 



LETTERS OF JESUS. 

LENTEN LECTURES. 



JOSEPH A. SEISS, D.D., LL.D., 

Author of " Lectures on the Gospels," " Lectures on the 
Epistles," " Voices from Babylon," " Lectures 
ON the Apocalypse," etc., etc. 



Remember the words of the Lord Jesus," 




PHILADELPHIA : 
LUTHERAN BOOKSTORE 



1889 



Copyright, 1889, 
BY JOSEPH A. SEISS. 



PRESS OF 



Westcott & Thomson, 
Stereotypers and Electrotypers, Philada 



PREFACE. 



The lyectures here following were prepared for 
the author's week-day appointments during I^ent. 
Direct practical impression, and not critical elab- 
oration, was the controlling aim in their compo- 
sition. As they were preached in different years, 
some repetitions of thought occur in them which 
might have been eliminated to the advantage of 
their literary finish; but as the same things recur 
in the text, and differ in the form in which they 
reappear in the IvCctures, it has been concluded to 
leave all as originally delivered. 

Lent is by general consent a season arranged by 
the Church for the calling of its members to a 
special sobering of their minds for serious medi- 
tation upon their situation with regard to spirit- 
ual things. It is a time to call to mind the pres- 
ence and inspection of God, His displeasure with 

sin, and how we are to secure salvation from it. 

3 



4 PREFACE. 

It is a time for earnest seeking unto the Lord to 
discover and amend what is defective in our hearts 
and lives, and for the quickening of our endeavors 
to be in full accord with the divine requirements. 
Christians need such seasons. The sensibility of 
conscience is liable to become dulled. Our real- 
ization of the need of the Saviour, and our hold 
of faith upon Him as our only hope, require fre- 
quent deepening and intensifying. We must be- 
times turn aside from our ordinary ways and 
indulgences to consider what we are, where we 
are, and whither we are going. We cannot 
make progress in the divine life without oft 
stimulation to the reverence and ardor of our 
supplications, faith, and resolves. And, though 
other times and seasons may and should be used 
for these ends, Lent, with its special services and 
prayers, is intended to subserve such spiritual 
purposes, and well answers to them. 

And when it comes to such an arraignment of 
ourselves before the l)ar of God to make sure of 
our estate before Him, it would seem to be greatly 
helpful for us seriously to take up and devoutly 
consider these Letters of Jesus to His professing 
people on tlie earth. Here we are brought into 



PREFACE. 5 

immediate communication with our living Lord 
Himself, present throughout His churches, ob- 
serving everything, and giving His infallible 
estimates and decisions on what He beholds, 
commending what is pleasing to Him and con- 
demning what He disapproves and hates. Here 
we have His own directions and commands ac- 
cording to the situation in each separate case, 
wherein also He tells us exactly what shall be 
the result of dutiful fidelity on the one hand and 
disregard of His Word on the other. And hardly 
another section of Holy Scripture is to be found 
better calculated to impress the heart, awaken 
spiritual consciousness, animate our hopes, and 
further us in the way of Christian improvement. 
Hence the choice of it for these Lenten Lectures. 

In treating of these sacred Letters the endeavor 
has been to deal faithfully with the divine Word 
without regard to anything else, to avoid all rash- 
ness and doubtful speculation, and to venture 
nothing on uiere guess or conjecture. It would 
be presumption for the author to claiui that he 
has in every instauce succeeded in accuratelv 
voicing and applyiug the Saviour's meaniug; 



PREFACE. 



but in so far as lie has light he is quite convinced 
of the truths he has sought to bring into view. 
Nor would he have preached these Lectures, or 
now consent to give them to the public, if he 
were not persuaded that such as sincerely desire 
to learn the mind of the Spirit ma}' get from them 
some wholesome impressions to help them in 
Christian life, and some perhaps not before so 
distinctly reached. Certainly, things of very 
solemn moment to all are here brought into 
contemplation, and things which should not fail 
to quicken spiritual life, strengthen holy pur- 
poses, dispose to patience under trials, and inflame 
with zealous desire to obtain the promises which 
our Lord holds out to the overcomers in the con- 
flict for the immortal prize. 

Accordingly, these Lectures are submitted with 
the hope and prayer that this attempt to draw 
out and apply "what the Spirit saith unto the 
churches" may be of service to souls, and re- 
dound to the praise of Him who walks amid 
tlie golden candlesticks and holds the stars in 
His right hand. 

PHii.ADF.i.riiiA, Advent, iS88. 



Table of Contents. 



Hectute JFim. 

PAGE 

Christ's Letters to the Churches 17 

Common Neglect of these Letters ■ 18 

Letter to the Church at Ephesus ^ 19 

The Stars in Christ's Right Hand \ . 19 

The Golden Candlesticks 20 

Christ Amid the Candlesticks . 21 

His Presence with His People .21 

His Close Observance of All 23 

The Church at Ephesus 25 

Christ's Account of this Church 26 

Its Good Works and Patience 27 

How it Dealt with False Teachers 28 

The Fervency of its Love 29 

The Earnestness of its Piety 30 

Well-doing Deserves Acknowledgment 31 

These People not Perfect 33 

No Perfect Church on Earth 33 

The Wane of Love 34 

Eecture ^econtJ, 

The Defect in these Ephesian Christians 37 

Not in a State of Apostasy 38 

Declension in First Love . , 40 

Commonness of this Defect 40 

An Easy Thing to grow Sluggish 41 

The Remedy Prescribed 42 

The Better Past to be Remembered 43 

Enthusiasm of First Discipleship 45 



7 



8 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. 



PAGE 

Repentance Required 47 

Not all Repentance the Same 48 

First Works to be Repeated 49 

Baptismal Vows to be Returned to 50 

Encouragements to Amendment 51 

A Serious Threat 52 

Devout Attention Demanded 54 

Neglect of the Divine Word Rebuked 55 

Outward and Inward Hearing 57 

Christ's Words those of the Spirit 59 

The Character and Attitude of True Believers 59 

Christians are Soldiers 60 

Enemies to be Overcome — Ignorance 60 

Carnal Nature 61 

Subtleties and Assaults of Satan 63 

Promise to the Overcomer 64 

Eating and the Tree of Life 65 

The Promises Graded 67 

Individuality of the Promise 68 

The Earthly Churcli not Saved as a Body 69 

?iecture 

Church at Smyrna 71 

The Saviour's Sympathy 72 

Tenderly Considers our Weakness 73 

Has Respect to our Tribulations 75 

Why He Sends Affliction 76 

Takes to Heart wliat His People Suffer 78 

Adversities of the .Smyrniotes 79 

Polycarp and his Martyrdom 80 

Trials not to be P'eared 8l 

The Great Matter is Confidence in Jesus 82 

Poverty that is Riches 83 

?ierturc ^VxiW). 

The Church at Pergamos 85 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. 9 

PAGB 

The Sword of the Word 86 

Moral Surgery 87 

Christ's Knowledge of the Situation 88 

Unfavorable Surroundings 89 

Christ's Name 91 

Holding Fast Christ's Name 93 

Dutifulness to the Faith 94 

The Gospel Nothing to be Asliamed of ... , 95 

The Faithful Antipas 97 

No Excuse for Unfaithfulness 98 

The City of Pergamos 100 

" Satan's Throne " loi 

Tenderness of Christ's Censures 102 

The Responsibihty of Ministers 103 

Balaamism 104 

Balaamism in the Church 106 

Christians Serving the World 109 

Great Ailment of Modern Christians 1 10 

The Nicolaitans in 

Not yet Extinct 112 

God requires Honest Consistency 113 

ilectuie £ebentj. 

Religious Controversy 114 

Christ's Judgment on Erring Churches . . . , 1 16 

Individuality not lost in Community 117 

The Conflict to be Maintained 118 

Particular Evils to be Combated 119 

Promise to the Victor 120 

Manna 121 

The Hidden Manna 122 

The Glorified Christ 123 

The White Stone 125 

The New Name 126 

Encouragements to P'idelity 127 

Voices from Heaven 127 



10 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. 



?lectuce iSigJti), 

PAGE 

Thyatira and Lydia I29 

Christ's Description of Himself 130 

The Son of God 130 

Meaning of this Claim 131 

Eyes of Flame 132 

Many not what they Seem 134 

Church at Thyatira not Totally Apostate 137 

Some Good Christians there 138 

Their Faith and Patience . 139 

The Hindrances in their Way 140 

Church not to be Forsaken because of Evils in it 14I 

Growth in Grace 142 

No Standstill in Christian Life 143 

Uecture Nmt^, 

Best of Churches have Unworthy Members 145 

A Plague-spot in the Church at Thyatira 146 

Woman in Christianity 147 

The Mischief she can Do 148 

A Second Jezebel 148 

True and False Inspirations 149 

" The Depths of Satan" 152 

Warnings before Judgment 1 53 

A Limit to God's Forbearance 154 

Judgment upon Jezebel and her Children 155 

The Burdened Faithful 156 

Encouragement to the Tried 157 

Deliverance will Come 158 

Uectuce Centj). 

The Letter to Thyatira for the Whole Church 160 

Duties of Christians in this World 1 61 

To Hold and Use the Word and Ordinances 1 62 

To Maintain the Conflict with Evil 163 

To Kee]) Clhrist's Works 164 

Incentives to Faithfulness 166 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. II 

PAGE 

Salvation is thus made Sure 167 

Brings to Heavenly Office and Administration 168 

Shepherdizing of the Nations 171 

Possessing the Morning Star 172 

Our Labors here not in Vain 174 

Hecture iSlebentJ. 

Sardis 176 

The Church in Sardis 177 

Christ's Presentation of Himself to 178 

Has the Seven Spirits of God 178 

The Paraclete I79 

The Seven Stars I79 

Condition of the Church in Sardis 182 

A Name to Live v^'hile Dead 183 

Christ's Demand upon Them 184 

Drowsy Eyes must be Opened , . . . 184 

What is Perishing must be Strengthened 185 

Past Experiences must be Recalled 186 

The Reasons Why 187 

Probation and Judgment 188 

The Crisis Impending 188 

Prominence and Povi^er of this Doctrine 189 

We Knovif not the Time 190 

Uecture CbelftJ, 

God has Saints in the Worst of Times 192 

Our Judgments Often at Fault 193 

The Saints have Garments Undefiled 194 

In the World, but not of It 196 

Despised on Earth, but Esteemed in Heaven 198 

Shall be Clothed in White Raiment 199 

The Book of Life 201 

Names therein 202 

Christ's Confession of His Own 203 

Names on Earth and Names in Heaven 204 

Great Things for our Consideration 205 



12 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. 



PAGE 

The Church in Philadelphia 207 

Those who Say they are Jews, but are not 208 

False Professors 210 

Profession Necessary, but not Sufficient 210 

Evil in the Several Churches 2ii 

The Holy One and the True 214 

An Open Door 215 

Keeping the Word of Christ's Patience 216 

Strength in Weakness 218 

Safety from the Great Tribulation 219 

Translation and Crowning of the Waiting Saints 220 

Eecture jfFourteentl), 

Future Blessedness and Glory of the Saints 224 

Who are Saints 226 

The Eternal Temple 227 

Pillars in it 228 

God's Name upon Them 230 

God's Priests 231 

The New Jerusalem 232 

Heavenly Citizenship 235 

Inscription of Christ's New Name 236 

Our Riches in Christ 237 

The Great Possibilities in Life Eternal 238 

ILecturc jFiftcentJ. 

The Seven Churches Prophetic of Seven Periods 241 

Our Times the Laodicean Period 243 

Christ " The Amen 244 

The Fulhlment and Authentication of All Prophecy 245 

" Tlie Faithful and True Witness" 247 

The Only Revelator of C^od . 248 

*' The Beginning of the Creation of God" 249 

The Operating Cause in Creation 249 

How Christ would have us Regard Him 250 

A Great Thing to Know Chiisl Aright 251 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. 1 3 

Eecture ^ixteentf). 

PAGE 

Archippus and his Charge 253 

A State of Coldness 254 

Not Approved of God 255 

A State of Warmth 256 

Examples of 257 

A State of Lukewarmness 258 

Ways in which it is Induced 259 

A Lukewarm Christian not a Saved Man 263 

wSelf-satisfied and Self-secure 264 

Christians of our Day 265 

Hectare Sebenteentf). 

Liability to be Deceived 268 

Self-delusion of the Laodiceans 269 

How they became Self-deceived 271 

Christ's " Counsel " to them ' . 273 

To Buy of Him 274 

Gold, the True Riches 275 

White Raiment 276 

Healing Medicaments 276 

Buying of Jesus 277 

A Blessed Opportunity 280 

ILectuce i£igf)teentf). 

Jesus the Chastener of His People 282 

All History Attests this 283 

Worth of the Discipline of Suffering 283 

Prosperity no Evidence of tlie Divine Favor 285 

Chastening a Sign of the Saviour's Love 286 

The Rod applied to Spur our Zeal 287 

False and True Zeal 288 

Zeal Required 290 

Repentance the Great Need 291 

No Lack of Zeal in the Worldly-minded 294 

Christianity Demands it Above All 295 



14 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. 



ilecture TSIi'neteentf). 

PAGE 

An Affecting Picture of Christ 297 

The True Location of the Scene 298 

Jesus Unrecognized by His Church 300 

Is Loth to Abandon His Cliurch 302 

His Standing and Knocking 302 

This Knocking here Something Pecuhar 303 

Some Loud Enunciation of His Presence 305 

Marked Agitations in Nature 306 

His Last Appeal has a Degree of Violence in it 307 

Symptoms of the Nearing Judgment 308 

Uecture Cbentietf). 

Christ's Promises to them that Open to Him 312 

Gradation in the Promises 314 

Thrones and Dominion 315 

Christ's Enthronement with the Father 316 

His Own Throne Distinguished 317 

The Regency of the Saints with Christ 318 

Destiny of the Saints 320 

The Greater the Glory the Greater the Conflict 321 

The Foes to be Vanquished 321 

No Reason for Despair 323 

Our Duty to Bid for the Highest Honors 325 

Uectute Cbentg^first. 

Grieving the Holy Ghost 328 

God hath Spoken 329 

His Word for All People 330 

A Resume of the Contents of these Letters 332 

These Things Meant to be of Practical Account 335 

Differences in Hearing 336 

All is Personal 337 

Individual Responsibility 338 

ILive we Profited by these Letters 339 

Conclusion 341 



ALMIGHTY and Everlasting God, Who 
hatest nothing that Thou hast made, and 
dost forgive the sins of all those who are peni- 
tent; Create and make in ns new and contrite 
hearts, that we, worthily lamenting our sins 
and acknowledging our wretchedness, may ob- 
tain of Thee, the God of all mercy, perfect 
remission and forgiveness; through Jesus Christ 
our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee 
and the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world 
without end. Amen. 



15 



Thus speaks the Spirit to the churches all, 
And to each man who hath an ear to hear : 
Whoso o'ercometh in this fell career 

With powers of earth and hell, which proudly call 

My people to the battle, he shall fall 

Unvan([uished, and to his grave shall bear 
The inart\ r's crown ; victorious rise and wear 

The ]K\\m of jubilee. Let no fears appall 

Christ's fellow-soldiers. Him, your Captain, view 
Upon the throne of -God; Who hath on high 

Mansious prepared, and wine o' th' kingdom new 
Upon His table set ; where never sigli 

Is heard, or sorrow enters. There shall you 
With Him alnde, and in His bosom lie. 



16 



THE LETTERS OF JESUS. 



Rev. 2 : 1-4 : " Unto the angel of the church of Ephesus write ; 
These things saith he that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, 
who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks ; I know 
thy works, and thy labor, and thy patience, and how thou canst not 
bear them which are evil : and thou hast tried them which say they 
are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars : and hast borne, 
and hast patience, and for my name's sake hast labored, and hast not 
fainted. Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou 
hast left thy first love." 




HIS is from the first in a series of seven 
lyetters sent by the blessed Saviour by the 
hand of the apostle John to the seven 
churches of Asia Minor. These Letters constitute 
a unique section of sacred literature. Like the 
Parables, they consist exclusively of Christ's own 
words; but, unlike the Parables, they were dic- 
tated from heaven after He was risen and glori- 
fied. They are perhaps the only unabridged 
records of His addresses that we possess. They 
are also so impressively introduced, and so par- 
ticularly addressed to the churches, as to imply 
2 17 



i8 



THE LETTERS OF JESUS. 



that there is something in them of unusual sol- 
emnity and importance. They come to us with 
a seven-times-repeated admonition to hear them, 
and lay them to heart. As Ave have ears to hear, 
we are commanded to hear what the Spirit saith 
to the churches. 

It is therefore a little strange that there is not 
another part of Holy Scripture, of equal promi- 
nence, to Avhich the Church has paid less atten- 
tion. The Parables of Christ are continuall}' 
being- brought before us: the discussions of them 
are endless. But it is rarely that God's people 
are called to consider these Letters of Jesus., 
though bearing His own sign-manual, and so 
particularly urged upon the attention of every 
one. Is this right ? Should we not be as anxious 
to know Avhat Jesus has dictated from heaven, 
and has commanded us to read, hear, and keep 
before us, as to know what He said in His dis- 
courses while on the earth? Is not the subject- 
matter in these Epistles as important, practical, 
and full of instruction as any other part of the 
New Testament? Why, then, has there been 
such a common neglect of what our Lord has 
pronounced so blessed for us to hear, ponder, 
and digest? 

On entering, then, upon a very solemn portion 
of the Church Year, and meaning by some special 
services to bring ourselves into closer felknvship 



TO THE CHURCH OF EPHESUS. 



19 



with our blessed Saviour, may it not be well for 
us to occupy these appointments by reverently 
considering what He has thus sent to His 
churches, and trying to gather up at least some 
of the precious things which He has thus given 
for our learning ? And in doing so let us earn- 
estly pray God to open our hearts, that we ma}^ 
duly understand and profit by His holy truth. 

In the passage now before us we have the first 
part of the lyCtter to the Church of Ephesus, from 
which we note — 

I. The description zvJiich the Saviour gives of 
Himself: "These things saith He that holdeth 
the seven stars in His right hand, who walketh 
in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks." 

This refers back to the vision described in the 
preceding chapter, where it is clearly explained 
that "the seven stars are the angels or ministers 
of the seven churches, and the seven candlesticks 
are the seven churches." 

Ministers are stars. They are so designated 
because they are God's light-bearers, intended to 
shine on the earth in the Sun's absence. They 
have their high station for the sole purpose of 
dispensing light. They are not all of the same 
magnitude, "for one star differeth from another 
star in glor}^;" but the office of every one is to 
give forth heavenly illumination. 

The business of a star is to shiue, to give out 



20 



THE LETTERS OF JESUS. 



light; and that of a minister is the same. A 
preacher or bishop who does not preach, or whose 
sermons enlighten no one, may be a minister of 
man's manufactnre, but surely not a star made of 
God. Stars are of no conceivable use to us except 
as they give light. They may be very big bodies, 
have very large circuits, fill an immense amount 
of space, and be as heavy and ponderous as the 
sun itself, but if they give no light and have no 
power to illuminate, they might as well not be, 
so far as respects us. They only fill up room 
which might be better occupied. And it is well 
for us all to bear in mind that as stars are made 
to shine, so all ministers must be light-bearers 
and light-givers. 

These stars are /;/ ChrisV s right hand. He 
upholds them. Tliey are His agents and instru- 
ments to carry and impart the heavenly light of 
life and salvation to benighted man. He calls, 
directs, and sends them. They have their high 
and beneficent ofiice from Him. iVnd they de- 
pend on Him for their place and for the light 
they give. 

The candlesticks are the churches, because it is 
the office of the churches to hold up that which 
gives out the light. People may have candle- 
sticks for mere ornaments, displays of rich ma- 
terial and handiwork, specimens of beautiful 
forms and elegant chasing; but that is not the 



TO THE CHURCH OF EPHESUS. 21 

true use of candlesticks. Candlesticks are meant 
to hold candles, to support lights. The truest 
and best candlestick is that which best supports 
a candle. What we want in it is a secure holder 
— one that will stand steady and remain firm — one 
that will receive and support a candle, that we may 
see by its light. We do not judge it so much by 
its pattern, its material, or the labor that has been 
bestowed upon it as by the completeness with 
which it answers its purpose. When a letter 
reaches us in the night-time, and we are anxious 
to know its contents, what care we whether the 
candlestick is gold or brass or clay, only so that 
it holds the light by which to see to read ? And 
so it does not so much matter as to the material 
and organization of a church. The best is that 
which best sustains the truth and best gives out 
the saving light. 

Now, the description which Christ here gives 
of Himself is, that He walks in the midst of these 
candlesticks: " These things saith He who walk- 
eth in the mids't of the seven golden candle- 
sticks. ' ' 

When on earth He said, "Wherever two or 
three are gathered together in my name, there 
am I in the midst of them." From this we see 
that it does not take a great building, a grand 
cathedral, or a large assembly of people to make 
a church. It may be well to have good accom- 



22 



THE LETTERS OF JESUS. 



modations and strong congregations; but, no mat- 
ter how humble the place or small the assembly, 
two or three united in faith and joining together 
for the confession and service of Jesus are church 
enough to attract the Saviour's presence; and 
there He is "in the midst of them" as much 
and as really as in the grandest assembly. His 
disciples may be interested in "the great stones 
of the temple," but the Master's attention is on 
something more noble and more enduring. His 
eyes are on the " living stones " and how they are 
disposed. While men are admiring the archi- 
tectural splendors. He is noticing the poor widow 
with her mite and the soul-sick publican smiting 
his breast and saying, "God be merciful to me a 
sinner!" Piles of stones or rocks stationed as if 
bursted upward into granite blossoms are not the 
things which most attract our blessed Saviour. 
Far more is He interested in the gathering of the 
people in His name, even though it be in some 
cold barn or lowly hovel. Wherever His people 
come together for holy worship, there He is. By 
His word and promises and Spirit and grace He 
is with them, to hear their prayers and to dispense 
His mercies. And thus He walks amid all the 
golden candlesticks the world over, present wher- 
ever His name is called and His Gospel sounded. 

And, being present with His churches. He ob- 
serves and note? all that is going on in them and 



rO THE CHURCH OF EPHESUS. 23 

all that pertains to His people. "/ Iznoiv thy 
works is what He here says of Himself. Noth- 
ing escapes Him. Every individual is held in full 
survey. He sees the private walk, the deeds of 
worship, the heart of devotion. He beholds the 
Pharisee in his pride, the publican in his humil- 
ity; the rich casting into the treasury of their 
abundance, and the poor offering of their narrow 
means. He would have the church of Ephesus 
understand that He knew it thoroughly — all its 
works, its labor of love, its hatred of evil, its suf- 
ferings, its patience, its strength, and its weak- 
ness. He has "eyes like a flame of fire," which 
penetrate all hearts and all lives, which look into 
the inmost recesses of the soul, and to which all 
things are naked and open. He knowetli the 
proud afar off. He looks through all masks and 
all disguises. No one can cloak or dissemble so 
as to impose on Him or deceive Him. There is 
not a thought in the heart, but, lo! He knoweth 
it altogether. He knows who we are and what 
we are, and what we have been doing, and with 
what sort of mind and temper we are now in His 
presence. " His eyes behold the works, His eye- 
lids try the thoughts of the children of men." 

Nor is there a heart upon which the eye of 
Jesus is not fully set the same as if it were the 
only heart in the world. If any one's thoughts 
are wandering, preoccupied with other than sacred 



24 



THE LETTERS OF JESUS. 



tilings, dwelling on all but what has brought us 
together, or calculating about this or that, unen- 
listed in the things that are being said of the 
blessed Jesus, busy, but not with the spirit of 
worship and honest desire to come nearer to God, 
He is observing it and knows it better than that 
soul itself Whoever else is absent, Christ is here, 
for He walks in the midst of the candlesticks, and 
there is never a moment's suspension of that all- 
penetrating omniscience with which He is con- 
templating every one of us here or elsewhere. 
No matter what is uppermost in our thoughts, 
feelings, or wishes, what we have been or what 
we now are, Jesus knows it all. If we have come 
hither to-day with true heart and a right spirit. 
He beholds it, and His favor and blessing go out 
to the soul that is seeking Him and is desirous to 
honor Him. If prayer and sorrow for sin and 
penitential longing for His mercy and grace be 
in our hearts, He observes it and encourages and 
fans it with His promises and Spirit. If the tear 
has silently gathered in the eye or fallen in regret 
over follies past; if the heart has quickened its 
beating over the pain felt for the wrongs and un- 
charities by which the life has been marred and 
stained; if the soul is swollen in the bosom and 
heaving out sighs to be freed from the condemna- 
tion we have deserved, — there is nothing quicker 
in an angel's wing or in tlie lightning's flash than 



TO THE CHURCH OF EPHESUS. 



25 



the speed with which this is telephoned to the ear 
and nnderstanding of the divine Savionr. To 
every one His word is "/ Jznozv thy ivo7^ks and 
neither we nor angels can tell Him anything about 
ourselves which He does not see and know. Our 
sorrows which we may not tell, our trials which 
no other knoweth, our difficulties, our hardships, 
the woes and aches that lie buried in our souls, 
our weaknesses and heart-struggles, our hidden 
fears and doubts, our honesty in things for which 
others blame and censure, our real motives and 
endeavors which others do not understand, — all 
are known to the loving Saviour, who can be 
touched with the feeling of our infirmity, and 
bids us be of good comfort, that His grace shall 
be sufficient for us. There is no child of His 
unnoticed or on whom His loving eye does not 
rest, to look subduingly upon the Peters that deny 
Him, to speak consolingly to the Marys that weep 
over their sins, to note the secret devotions of the 
Nathaniels under the fig tree, to commend the 
faith of the bowed and crippled ones who struggle 
amid the jostling crowd that they may but touch 
the hem of His garment. 
Note, 

II. What Jesits sazv in these church-people of 
Ephesiis. 

We learn from the Acts of the Apostles how 
they had been gathered and formed into a Chris- 



26 



THE LETTERS OF JESUS. 



tiaii congregation — how Panl, passing through the 
upper coast of the ^Mediterranean, came to Ephe- 
sus, and found there some twelve Christian be- 
lievers, refugees from the murderous persecutions 
which the malignant Jews were waging against 
those of this faith in Palestine. God overrules 
the v/rath of men to His own praise. ]\Ian}- 
churches had their first beginning through the 
fugitives who were thus driven away from their 
own country on account of their faith in Christ. 
Those whom Paul found at Hphesus became the 
nucleus for the great and honored congregation at 
that place. They were the first materials in the 
formation of that candlestick for the upholding 
of the light of the Gospel amid the heathen dark- 
ness of Diana's worshippers. And with the apos- 
tle Paul as their minister and champion, whose 
hands and ministrations they did everything to 
uphold, great progress for the truth was made. 
Turned out of the synagogue of the Jews, to 
which he first went and preached Jesus and the 
resurrection, they procured the use of a school- 
house of one Tyrannus, where Paul went dail\' 
preaching and arguing with all comers, and con- 
vincing and persuading many by his arguments, 
his testimony, and his miracles. And thus the 
church of Ephesus was established. 

It is claimed by some that Timothy was its first 
bishop, but there certainly were a number of other 



TO THE CHURCH OF EPHESUS. ' 2/ 

overseers or bishops with him, whom the Holy 
Ghost had made overseers of that church. 

It was a highly favored church. Having had 
Paul for its founder, the venerable apostle John 
spent his last years in close association with it. 
It had great privileges, and it had greatly profited 
by them. It is always well when people gladly 
hear the truth and live up to it. 

The church at Ephesus was a devoted and act- 
ive church. He who walks amid the golden can- 
dlesticks saw their zvorksy True Christian 
faith and devotion always bring forth good works. 
Idle and do-nothing Christians are of but little 
worth to themselves or to the world, and their 
Christianity is of a very doubtful sort. It is 
not said what these "works and labors" were, 
but we can easily infer them from accounts 
elsewhere. 

The people were in earnest in their religion, 
and did everything in their power to make con- 
verts to it. They upheld and helped Paul in all 
his efforts to the full extent of their ability. They 
filled their places with heart and energy, and were 
zealous for the cause. They worked together for 
the same end. They exemplified what they pro- 
fessed and believed. They were Ephesians in the 
real sense of that word — full of ardor, warm and 
fervent in their zeal and activity for the Gospel 
and the bringing of men to embrace and share the 



28 



THE LETTERS OE JESUS. 



blessedness of it. All this is necessarily implied 
in what is written, that " the word of God might- 
ily grew and prevailed." And this the Savionr 
knew, remarked on, and commended. 

They also had mnch patie7icey Twice does 
the Savionr refer to their patience. They were 
not dispirited, put out, and made to hold back be- 
cause things did not go just to their mind. They 
were slandered by the Jews and persecuted by the 
heathen, but they held on to their faith and did 
not falter in their endeavors. Trade unions rose 
up to drive them out of the city, but they stood 
firm for the Gospel. They had to bear all sorts 
of taunts, calumny, and ill-treatment on account 
of their faith and zeal, but they did not retaliate 
nor give over on that account. They were pa- 
tient — patient in bearing contumely, patient in 
waiting God's time and will in all things, patient 
in holding on and w^orking on, oppressive and 
hard as the situation was. The}' knew for Whom 
they were working, and the great interest to the 
community and the souls of men the establishing 
a strong Christian church in Ephesus would be, 
and they were not to be diverted from their fixed 
and steady purpose, glad to do and suffer in such 
a cause. And for this Jesus praised and com- 
mended them. 

Great efforts w^ere made to corrupt them against 
the truth. Wicked men got among them, but 



TO THE CHrKCH OF EPHESUS. 



29 



they cast them out. When they could not be 
moved by opposition and persecution, hypocritical 
pretensions and deceit were brought into requi- 
sition. Men came insinuating ill things against 
Paul as not an apostle, but an impostor, and 
others came claiming to be the true apostles and 
the only true teachers of religion. Deceivers 
sought to ingratiate themselves with them, that 
they might pervert their minds and turn them 
from the truth. But they did not take everything 
for granted that people said. They were careful 
to know where things came from and who those 
were who came with these tales and novelties. 
They tried them wdiich said they were apostles 
and were not, and found them liars, and would 
have nothing to do with them. These bland- 
^ faced whisperers, who know so much and are 
always retailing insinuations of what they have 
heard to the discredit of good people, found no 
favor with these Ephesian Christians. And for 
this also the Saviour eulogized and commended 
them. 

These Ephesian Christians were further charac- 
terized by great fervency of love. This was es- 
pecially the case in their early history. "Adver- 
sity makes strange bedfellows, ' ' and companionship 
in common calamities and hard misfortunes tends 
to unite souls very closely that otherwise would 
never be brought together. The first members of 



30 



THE LETTERS OF JESUS. 



this church were all persecuted exiles, driven away 
from their homes and country because of their 
faith, and as fellow-sufferers in the same holy 
cause they were very close in their intimacy and 
warm in their mutual sympathy and regard, which 
became one of the particular features of the orig- 
inal church of Hphesus. 

But their love and interest in one another were 
only the reflection of a still more ardent love to 
Jesus and His truth. Had it not been so they 
never would have abandoned home, friends, and 
possessions in their own land to take the place of 
fugitives and refugees in a strange and corrupt 
heathen city. Their religion was not fashion. 
They were Christians, not from custom or be- 
cause it was a reputable thing with those whose 
good opinion they prized. They were Christians 
from honest conviction, from genuine principle, 
and were ready to forsake father and mother, 
houses and lands, and to become strangers and 
pilgrims on the earth, out of pure love and de- 
votion to that blessed Saviour who left heaven 
and died on the cross for them, and had sealed 
them by His Holy Spirit of promise unto eternal 
redemption. Nor does anything so enlist, please, 
and gratify our glorious Lord as to behold such 
devotion in His followers and children. "I love 
them that love me " is His saying of old, and His 
heart ever softens toward those whose hearts are 



TO THE CHURCH OF EPHESUS. 3 1 

warm and zealous toward Him. It is indeed a 
beautiful thing to love Jesus, and a very uncomely 
and wicked thing not to be moved with affection- 
ate gratitude to Him who has so loved us and 
done so much for us. And as these Bphesians 
loved ardently, Jesus noted it and commended 
them for it. 

Well-doing and worth deserve acknowledgment 
and commendation, and the withholding of these 
when due is not according to Christ. Even though 
all good in His people is from His grace, and none 
of it could be without Him and the helping power 
of the Holy Ghost, when they thus improve under 
His merciful dealings He gives them credit for it, 
and expresses His pleasure and approval. Bad 
men often flatter and praise as a lure to those 
whom they wish to win to their favor or influence 
to their own selfish ends. They know the power 
of praise, and they dishonestly use it. This is 
despicable. Good people are apt to err on the 
other side, and are strangely chary and neglectful 
in the use of this power. Whether it be to gain 
the respect and affection of others, the moulding 
of their desires, the guiding of their will, the 
cure of their faults, or the strengthening of their 
activities in what is good, almost every other 
means is preferred to that of commendation. 
Argument, advice, admonition, warning, and es- 
pecially rebuke, censure, and complaint, are lib- 



32 



THE LETTERS OF JESUS. 



erally used; but words of approval and esteem are 
carefully withheld or grudgingly doled forth, as 
if some hidden danger lurked in them. The 
example of Christ was different. Even in this 
world of sin and sinners He still found some 
things to commend and praise; and in here 
speaking from heaven it is the same. 

Dishonest praise is wickedness. It is base in 
him who gives it and evil to him to whom it is 
given. But candid, truthful, and liberal acknow^- 
ledcrment and commendation of Avliat is rio^lit and 
good is a blessed inspiration both in the giver and 
the receiver. It draws them together. It freshens 
and stimulates effort. It begets mutual confidence 
and multiplies strength. It opens a community 
of feeling and interest wdiich makes correction 
of faults easy, serves to correct despondency and 
faintness, and tends to encourage, cheer, and re- 
inforce. To assure others of your good opinion 
if they can trust your sincerity and truthfulness 
animates them to increased effort to justify your 
favorable regard, and it helps to build up love, 
good-will, and virtue. It is right, and it is use- 
ful. It helps to allay the envious and bad in hu- 
man nature and to bring out and foster the good. 
It is a happiness in itself, and it gives happiness. 
What a comfort and inspiration was it to these 
Ephesians, wdiatever there was in them to be cor- 
rected, to be thus commended by the Saviour for 



TO THE CHURCH OF EPHESUS. 33 

SO many things! How much more courageously 
would they now exert themselves to repair what 
was defective, that they might stand thus approved 
in all things! And if we could but know what 
failing energies may be refreshed, what languor 
chased away, what hope and enthusiasm inspired, 
and what love and confidence begotten by our 
words of honest, cordial praise, w^e would not be 
so backward in our expressions of them. 

But, as in all cases in this world, these people 
were not perfect. With all their virtues, they had 
their faults and failings, which honest love could 
not omit to mention and disapprove, that effort 
might be made to supply what was wanting. 
With all the Saviour's commendations of them. 
He still found it necessary to say to them, ' ^Nev- 
ertheless^ I have somewhat against thee. ' ' 

There is no such thing on earth as a perfect 
man, a perfect woman, or a perfect society made 
up of men and women. Such a thing as a perfect 
church, in which there are no weaknesses, no de- 
fective members, no faulty administrations, no 
backslidings, no unworthy people, does not ex- 
ist. Some churches are much better and nearer 
right than others, but none are full up to the 
standard of perfection. In this world the Church 
is always and everywhere a mixed society, with 
mingled excellencies and faults. Even where the 
graces of the Spirit are the most active and the 
3 



34 



THE LETTERS OF JESUS. 



most fully developed, and people are most devoted 
and earnest, and the work of the I^ord goes on 
with the greatest success, when the eye of the 
holy Jesus comes to survey the situation He al- 
ways has plenty of occasion to say, Nevertheless^ 
I have so7newhat against thee. ' ' 

And it is the same with individuals as with 
churches and congregations. We may think that 
we are all right, that we are doing nobly, that we 
have been very watchful, prayerful, true, devoted, 
and prompt in every known duty; but when Jesus 
comes to give His judgment, even while there is 
much for Him to commend and praise, He still 
in truth and justice must add, ^''Nevertheless^ I 
have so7newhat against thee.^^ 

Nay, if we only look carefully into ourselves, 
our ways of living and doing, how we are hand- 
ling ourselves, talents, possessions, hearts, and 
lives — how we are bearing and disposing our- 
selves respecting Christian duty and privilege, 
and what sort of progress we have been making 
in the divine life and usefulness, — we will be at 
no loss to find that Jesus, who knows and sees all, 
would needs have to say even of the best, Nev- 
ertheless^ I have sornezvhat against theey 

The great fault Christ found with these people 
was the decay of their first love. They were good 
and earnest Christians still, but they had too much 
cooled in their ardor and let down in the fervency 



TO THE CHURCH OF EPHESUS. 35 

of their former zeal and devotion. There was still 
the outward ongoing of effort and activity, and 
much to be praised; but love was dying. The 
machinery still moved under the power of the 
original impulse, but the great moving spirit 
within was losing its force. The outside of the 
tree stood fair and well-proportioned as ever, but 
mould and decay had commenced within. A pure 
creed and a right discipline still remained, but the 
heart was growing cold. The Saviour saw how it 
was with them, and spoke accordingly. 

And what, dear friends, does Christ's all-search- 
ing eye behold in us with reference to this point ? 
Has there been no wane in our love and zeal since 
first we gave ourselves to Jesus ? Are we as much 
interested in the things of God and the soul as 
once ? Are we as prompt and earnest in our pri- 
vate devotions and attendance on the means of 
grace as aforetime? Do we have the same low 
opinion of the vanities, pursuits, honors, and 
pleasures of this world as when we first set out 
to serve the Lord ? Are we as strict and particu- 
lar in holding on to the truth or word of God, 
and as confident in venturing our trust and hopes 
upon it, as at some other time we could mention ? 
Are we as devoted to the Church and as anxious 
and earnest and prayerful to build it up and to 
foster the spirit of peace, harmony, and love, as 
once? Ah me! in how many instances may 



36 



THE LETTERS OF JESUS. 



awakened conscience catch the words of the lov- 
ing Jesus, sadly whispering, "My child, my dear 
child, thou hast borne and hast patience for my 
name's sake, and hast labored, and hast not 
fainted. Nevertheless^ I have somewhat against 
theeP' 

Let us think on these things. 



Rev. 2:5: " Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and 
repent, and do the first works ; or else I will come unto thee quickly, 
and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent." 




E have remarked upon the solemn fact 
that He who walks amid the golden 
candlesticks and whose eyes are like 
flames of fire sees and knows the works, cha- 
racter, and spiritual condition of all His churches 
and of every member in each. What is good, 
what is bad, what is improving and what is ail- 
ing, what is wanting and what is failing, — all is 
naked and open to His searching view, and no 
concealment can hide anything. If there is good, 
earnestness, and sincerity in any one. He notices 
that good and commends it. 

There was much that was favorable in this 
church of Bphesus, and this is duly credited. 
But there were unfavorable symptoms also, and 
of a dangerous sort, and these are likewise pointed 
out for special attention and amendment, lest they 
should work ruin to the whole spiritual life of 
those concerned. 

The particular defect was that these people had 

37 



38 



THE LETTERS OF JESUS. 



" left their first love^ It is remarkable that this 
should happen in a church so eminent for its at- 
tainments, and standing at the head of all the 
churches of its time for activity, force, zeal, and 
devotion to the truth. Here was a congregation 
in which Paul had labored long and successfully, 
to which he had addressed an Epistle finding no 
cause for censure or evils to be corrected, over 
which Timothy had presided as chief pastor, and 
in the midst of which the beloved disciple dwelt 
in his later years, joining in its assemblies to the 
last, and often exhorting its members to faith and 
love. And yet it had so declined in spiritual life 
and devotion that Christ had to make this serious 
charge against it even while the apostle John still 
lived. 

We thus see what a frail and fickle thing human 
nature is — how little dependence is to be placed 
upon it even at the best — how ineffectual the 
highest opportunities are to guarantee stability 
of religious character and devotion — how liable 
the most distinguished attainments to decay and 
disappear. Most of the same people who were in 
this church from the beginning were in it still, 
but it was now for the loving Saviour to say, " I 
have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left 
thy first love. ' ' 

These people were not in a state of apostasy. 
There still was much activity, zeal for evangelic 



TO THE CHURCH OF EPHESUS. 39 

truth, earnest adherence to apostolic order, hatred 
of error and unrighteousness, and regard for pur- 
ity of life. But all this may exist, and yet a hid- 
den canker be eating away what no orthodoxy, no 
faith, no knowledge, no good works, no labor or 
patience in well-doing could atone for. It was 
still a decent, orderly, vigorous, exemplary, and 
efficient church. Its external presentations were 
all good. But there was inward weakening in 
that very thing which is most essential — in that 
living love and fellowship of the soul with its 
Redeemer which is the life of all true piety. 
The body stood the same as before, but the mer- 
cury within had fallen. The machinery was still 
running, but the motive-power was failing. It 
was still the best of all the seven churches named, 
but it was at heart in a state of decline. Affec- 
tion was cooling, zeal was abating. The inward 
fire of love was wasting away. A degeneration 
had set in which needed to be arrested and reme- 
died. 

These people still held firmly to the confessioti 
of the truth. They had religious knowledge and 
principle. They were true to what they had been 
taught, and held on commendably to it against all 
who encroached upon it either in doctrine or in 
life. They were still in many respects model 
Christians of the higher class. But the heart was 
not so deep in the matter as formerly. They 



40 



THE LETTERS OF JESUS. 



could still withstand the terrors of persecution 
by the confidence and might of prayer, but those 
prayers had become less frequent, less ardent, and 
less confiding; their devotions more a matter of 
course than from inward desire to be in commu- 
nion with Jesus; their religion more intellectual 
perhaps, but having less heart. They were still 
honored examples of the regenerating grace of 
God, and honored witnesses for the Gospel in the 
midst of a powerful heathenism; but the world 
had imperceptibly been insinuating itself between 
them and the Saviour, and, perhaps without know- 
ing it themselves, they had lapsed from their first 
love. 

Nor was this a peculiar or imcommon case. 
Too many Christians, alas ! know from melan- 
choly experience what it is to. sink away from the 
fervors of a first devotion. Many can refer to 
times when they knew something of the happi- 
ness of entire consecration and full communion 
with Heaven — when the heart w^as withdrawn 
from everything temporal and fixed in undoubt- 
ing faith upon Jesus — when they felt in the ver}' 
newness and wonder of their emotions and re- 
solves a proud confidence that nothing could ever 
remove them from an estate so blessed. But they 
have since found out how that life and joy could 
evaporate and pass away — how the care and love 
for other things insensibly stole in upon the soul. 



TO THE CHURCH OF EPHESUS. 4 1 

SO that the bitter waters again filtered into their 
old channels, the chains again tightened upon the 
neck, and a drag formed upon the heart, until all 
former liberty and confidence was undermined, 
the old slavery renewed, and first love diminished 
and gone. Christ Himself has told us of some 
who hear the word, and anon with joy receive it, 
yet after a while lapse into their old folly and un- 
concern. Ah, dear friends, we know of too many 
such cases. We can point out numbers of them 
by name among ourselves. From the beginning 
the Saviour said it would be so. And such a frail 
and inconstant thing is human nature that I doubt 
if one of us has been without some experience of 
just what the Saviour here alleged against these 
Ephesians. 

It is an easy thing to grow sluggish and indif- 
ferent in religious things, even when there has 
been a good and honest start and while there is 
no thought of backsliding. The truths once so 
bright and quickening to the soul are liable to 
become soiled by handling, and thus to lose their 
freshness and power. The natural heart, which 
still stirs within, is ever pleading for more liberal 
ideas and for less strictness than conscience at first 
so clearly dictated. The cares and anxieties of 
life make such heavy dematlds on our time and 
energy that religious duties are crowded into the 
background and punctuality in attending upon 



42 



THE LETTERS OF JESUS. 



them is invaded and excused. Prayer and medi- 
tation on sacred things are narrowed to very feeble 
and uncertain limits. Bible reading and study 
become irregular and much hindered. Self-in- 
dulgence and carnal ease and pleasure sue for 
relaxation in the continual pressure which the 
burdens of business impose. A little yielding 
here and there seems to be necessary, and is so 
much more agreeable. And so, without intend- 
ing it, and thinking all the while of keeping on 
good terms with conscience, people get upon the 
downward plane before they are aware of it, and 
finally awake, if they ever awake at all, to find 
themselves drifted far awa}^ from what they started 
to become and from what they once were. They 
have left their first love. 

WHAT IS TO BE DONE IN SUCH A CASE? 

The Saviour prescribed for these people of 
Bphesus, and what He said to them applies 
equally to ourselves. Truth is not a thing of 
one century, which becomes a cipher or a false- 
hood in the next, or which varies with latitude 
and longitude. Truth is like its God — the same 
yesterday, to-day, and for ever. What was truth 
at Ephesus is truth also in Philadelphia. Where 
the same disease exists, there the one and un- 
changeable remedy is requisite. And the word 
here spoken to the Christians of Bphesus is a leaf 



TO THE CHURCH OF EPHESUS. 43 

from the tree of life which needs to be applied in 
every case where love is dying. 

The prescription given is made up of three 
items, and each of them of great importance. 

The first item is, Remember therefore from 
whence thou art falleity This calls for retro- 
spection and the exercise of memory. True piety 
brings all our faculties into action. It is one of 
man's powers to be able to look back and to live 
the events and course of his life over again by 
means of memory. And this power is the first 
thing to be set to work to cure a decay of relig- 
ious life and fervor. People must think back and 
compare what they once were with what they now 
are. Memory must recall the past that it inay be 
laid alongside of the present. 

When the apostle wished to bring the Jewish 
Christians to a firm and continuous steadfastness 
in the faith, he bade them "call to remembrance 
the former days, in which, after they were illu- 
minated, they endured a great fight of afflictions, 
and took joyfully the spoiling of their goods, 
knowing that they had in heaven a better and 
more enduring substance" (Heb. 10:32). The 
Saviour did the same with reference to these 
people of the church of Ephesus; and so it 
must be with us all. 

Consult your memory, then, as to how it was 
with you aforetime. Call to mind how it was 



44 



THE LETTERS OE JESUS. 



when you made your first start in Christianity — 
what adoring love and gratitude you felt toward 
the merciful Saviour who snatched you as a brand 
from the burning — what fervor, what zeal, what 
earnestness of devotion, distinguished your feel- 
ings by day and were as the sunlight around yoiir 
soul at night — how prompt and ready you were 
for any duty and any sacrifice by which you could 
honor and glorify your blessed lyord — how pre- 
cious to you was the word of your God as you 
read and marked its glowing texts or listened to 
it from the sacred desk as often as Sunday came 
— how the psalms and hymns and spiritual songs 
of the Church reverberated in your soul, and what 
melody to the Lord they made in your heart — 
how easy and free and frequent were your com- 
munings with God, and what confidence you had 
in the forgiving love and favor of the heavenh' 
Father — to what a paradise of peace and satisfac- 
tion grace raised you, on what sunlit summits you 
then walked in sweet communion with Him whose 
redeeming love you had learned to know and feel, 
and with what disdain and loathing you thence 
looked down upon the empty husks and baubles 
of worldly gayety and carnal pleasuring as com- 
pared with the high things then so near and dear 
to your soul. And as you trace the glowing pic- 
ture, still bright on the tablets of memory, think 
of how it is with }'ou now. Do those halcyon 



TO THE CHURCH OF EPHESUS. 45 

days still shine upon your path, filling your soul 
with their supernal brightness ? Do you still find 
yourself aloft, triumphing upon the Rock of Ages 
and breathing joyously the pure atmosphere of 
God's heavens? Or has there been a change, 
interposing a wide gulf between that blessed 
past and this present ? Are you conscious of 
some mysterious difference for the worse ? Have 
sighs for the joys you have tasted come into the 
place of those happy songs ? Has cold and chill 
and cloud and dimness and darkness and doubt 
and heaviness quenched out that ardent warmth 
of joy in the Lord and pleasure in His service ? 
Make the comparison and see if there has been 
no unfavorable transition. 

I do not say that the enthusiasm of first disci- 
pleship will or must always gush and spring as at 
the beginning. Youthful emotions naturally and 
necessarily sober down amid the realities of after- 
life, and so religious enthusiasm and ecstasies as 
well; but then they must settle into deeper prin- 
ciple. iVn old Christian may have less passion 
than at his entrance on the heavenly way, but 
the spring of religious character and devotion 
must still be there, all the steadier and firmer 
for the growth of years, ready on occasion joy- 
fully to make sacrifices for Christ, and as appre- 
ciative of all that belongs to the nurture and 
exercises of Christian life as ever. The first 



46 



THE LETTERS OF JESUS. 



glow of early feeling may be sobered down, but 
what is lost in fervor mnst be regained in fixed- 
ness, depth, and strength, the energy of principle 
acting in the room of the enthusiasm of feeling 
when life was younger. Though there may be 
less effervescence to incite and impel, there must 
be settled conviction and tried purpose to move 
one forward all the same and with all the more 
steadiness. There ma}' not be as much rampage 
of religious emotion and joy, but the living prin- 
ciple must be there to act out duty as the crisis 
for it comes. The leaping, dancing, and spark- 
ling rill may lose its dash and hurry, but only to 
widen and deepen into the calm majesty of the 
river, the latter still moving steadily on to the 
same great ocean toward which the other bounded 
with so much life. Otherwise, there is unwhole- 
some stagnation, and first love is dying out, if not 
already dead. 

It may be unpleasant to recall a joyous past in 
comparison with a sad and fault}- present. It is 
no comforting discovery to find that we have been 
retrograding and going down hill instead of up. 
But we need to know the facts if there is to be an 
effectual remedy. Jesus tells us to make this ret- 
rospect as the first step to a^reparation of the lapse 
that has intervened. And why should we try to 
hide from ourselves what we cannot hide from our 
vSaviour, and what must work death to all our 



TO THE CHURCH OF EPHESUS. 



47 



hopes if not discovered and vigorously treated? 
If we have been losing our first love, we need to 
know it, and trying to conceal it from ourselves 
will not relieve the misfortune. Therefore the 
word of the merciful Saviour is, Remember 
from whence thou art f aliens The facts must 
be considered. 

And the next step is equally clear. One word 
expresses it: they that have left their first love 
must ''^ repenty They must confess the evil, be 
sorry for it, and set earnestly to work to retrace 
their steps, in order to get back into the true life 
of faith. When Peter stood convicted of having 
wickedly denied his Ivord, he did not try to hide 
it from his soul or to apologize for it as a thing 
which he was betrayed into and could not help. 
No; he knew that he was a sinner; he felt it in 
his soul. It wounded and distressed him that he 
should have made himself answerable for so great 
a piece of cowardice and wickedness toward his 
meek and suffering lyord. And he tvent out 
and zvept bitterly y Broken-hearted for his ter- 
rible fall, he threw himself on the mercy of God, 
and with a soul aching with abhorrence of his 
crime, aud thoroughly changed from any further 
fellowship with his sin, he sued for pardou. His 
broken heart was already a reinstatement, in so 
far as it carried with it an altered mind and a re- 



48 



THE LETTERS OF JESUS. 



newed devotion to liis Lord. This was his repent- 
ance, and it was effectual. x\nd so are we to re- 
pent of our fall from first love. We must not 
apologize for it; we must not try to hide it from 
us; we must not begin to think that we could not 
help it; but must own up to ourselves and to God, 
with wounded and sorrowing hearts, that we have 
Deen so faithless and untrue, humbly imploring 
restoration to His favor, and made up to leave 
nothing undone to be cured and healed of our 
guilty defection, and by His good help henceforth 
to keep ourselves in His love. 

Not all repentance is the same. There is a re- 
pentance which looks at the consequences and 
punishments of sin, and struggles simply to es- 
cape from them; and there is a repentance which 
looks at the guilt and wrong of sin, and sorrows 
over it for its evilness, and struggles for deliver- 
ance from it because of its meanness and hateful- 
ness. We see the one kind in Pharaoh, who cried, 
^^Take away the frogs,'^ which his wickedness had 
brought upon him and his country. We see the 
other in David, who cried, ^^Take aivay my sin ; 
wash me from mine iniquity; purge me with hys- 
sop, and I shall be clean; create in me a clean 
heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within 
me." The one drives to despair, as in the case 
of Judas; the other leads back, in broken-hearted 
return, to wronged Goodness, saying, "Father, I 



TO THE CHURCH OF EPHESUS. 



49 



have sinned before heaven and in thy sight, and 
am no more worthy to be called thy son," as in 
the case of the Prodigal. 

There is also a repentance which expresses 
great sorrow for sin to-da}- while the penalties 
of transgression are sore and heavy, but when the 
pain is over is ready to plunge again into the same 
misdoings. This was the sort that appeared so 
often in King Saul, but which failed to make a 
right man of him or to save him from the doom 
of a guilty and rejected suicide. The repentance 
which the Saviour calls for in the text is a repent- 
ance that confesses and laments sin because it is 
sin, and sorrows for having given place to what is 
so wrong, evil, hurtful, and offensive, and is hon- 
estly desirous and resolved to amend. And not 
until we come to this are we in the right way to 
heal and repair the evil of having fallen from our 
first love. 

And yet there remains one other item in the 
prescription. Remembering whence we have 
fallen, and sincerely repenting, it belongs to the 
proceeding for the backslider to re-begin his 
whole Christian life. ^^£>o tJic first zvorks^^ is 
the direction the blessed Saviour gives. This 
means the setting of ourselves upon the same 
path and in the same way in which we came to 
our first love. It does notnnean that we must be 
rebaptized, but that we must come back to our 

4 



50 



THE LETTERS OF JESUS. 



baptism, to the meaning of it — to the consecra- 
tion to Christ of which it is the mark and badge 
— to the covenant and promises of which it is the 
divine seal. It does not mean that we must be 
reconfirmed; but that we must come back again 
to precisely the same point of renunciation of the 
devil and all his works, the vanities of the world, 
and the sinful desires of the flesh — to renewal of 
faith in God and in His Son our Saviour, sincerely 
desiring to be received into the fellowship and lib- 
erty of His true children — to the unresei-^-ed sur- 
render of ourselves, hearts, and lives to the loving 
obedience of faith, to live and die as the willing 
subjects and followers of Him in whom our salva- 
tion stands. Confessing and lamenting our past 
failures, grieved in soul that w^e could ever slacken 
and sink away in our affection and devotion to so 
true and good a Lord, feeling and sorrowing for 
our imworthiness and ill-desert, full of earnest 
longings and prayers for God's merciful forgive- 
ness, and honestly desiring by His gracious help 
to be and do and suffer whatever His holy will 
may be, — so are we to come to Him, as we came 
at the first, throwing ourselves on His compassion, 
and in all the depths of our nature, saying, 

Here, Lord, I give myself to Thee, 
'Tis all that I can do. 

By all the powers a gracious God has given us 



TO THE CHURCH OF EPHESUS. 5 I 

and will give we must reform from all neglects, 
from all dalliance with the ways of the world, 
from all half-heartedness in religion. This is 
doing the first works over again, even those 
which gave us those better days, the holy music 
of which still comes up in memory amid all the 
cold and wretchedness of the estrangement which 
has since befallen us. And nothing less than this 
can bring about a return of that spiritual summer- 
time or repair the mischief of having left our first 
love. Indeed, this is what God calls for from all 
people, at all times, if they would enjoy His 
peace. 

Happily, however, we have many hopeful en- 
couragements to all this. Backsliders know to 
what heights of peace and holy joy they once 
were lifted by the grace in which they then hoped 
and trusted; and that grace is the same now and 
able to do for us the same again. Jesus sends 
His special message, bidding those who have left 
their first love to remember whence they have 
fallen, repent, and do the first works; and He 
would not give such a prescription if it were 
not a competent remedy to work a complete cure. 
Many of the ancient saints, when fallen into such 
spiritual decay, tried it and found themselves once 
more peaceful and happy in the love and favor of 
Heaven. And God's word and promises on the 
subject are plentiful, clear, and most encouraging. 



52 



THE LETTERS OE JESUS. 



Of old time He said to Jeremiah, "Go and pro- 
claim these words, and say. Return, thou back- 
sliding Israel, saith the Lord; and I will not cause 
mine anger to fall upon you; for I am merciful" 
(Jer. 3:12). By Isaiah He has given out, "Let 
the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous 
man his thoughts, and let him return unto the 
Lord, and He will have mercy upon him" (Isa. 
55 : 7). By Hosea the word is, " O Israel, return 
unto the Lord thy God," with promise: " I will 
heal their backsliding, I will love them freely" 
(Hos. 14: 1-4). Jesus Himself saith, " Come unto * 
Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I 
will give you rest " (Matt. 11 : 28). Nor can there 
be any question that in returning and humble 
resting in Jesus we shall be saved; for so the 
voice of the whole Scripture is. 

And yet we must not overlook the fact that 
there is also an awful threat in the text in case 
Christ's lapsed and faulty children do not repent 
and return as He directs. To such He says He 
will come quickly and remove their candlestick, 
turning the light of mercy into the darkness of 
judgment, and the greatness of their privileges 
to a millstone to sink them beyond all hope. 

See how it was with the church of Kphesus. 
Its improvement was but temporary. It decayed 
still more with the general decay that came after- 



TO THE CHURCH OF EPHESUS. 53 

ward. No great length of time passed until a 
visitor there might well have asked if the light- 
nings of divine vengeance had wrought the deso- 
lations that were upon that ill-fated city. And 
for these long ages since, the melancholy echoes 
from the crumbling walls and fallen temples of 
a lost Christianity have been answering back, 
"Look on us, and see what Jesus means by the 
removal of the candlestick from its place." 



iLecture Eifitt^. 




Rev. 2:7:" He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spuit saith 
unto the churches ; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the 
tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God." 

HB intensity and the directness to every 
one of the exhortation in the first part of 
this text bespeak the presence of truths 
of great importance. It has been rightly said 
that "this form always is used of radical and 
generative truths, great principles, most precious 
promises, most deep fetches from the secrets of 
God, being as it were eyes of truth, seeds and 
kernels of knowledge" — things in which man- 
kind have the profoundest interest, and without 
the learning of which we are at great disadvan- 
tage. By these words, then, appended as they 
are to each of these seven Letters, we are here 
instructed by the Saviour Himself that they are 
of very momentous import and relate to things of 
the deepest consequence to our welfare. 

But the same words also propound a matter of 
urgent duty which we are not at liberty to omit 
or disregard. The Scriptures everywhere make 
much of hearing — the giving of attention to 
54 



TO THE CHURCH OF EPHESUS. 55 

what God has been pleased to record and make 
known to ns in His word. When Jehovah speaks 
it is for those to whom He speaks to give ear and 
to observe what He sa3\s. When He calls to us 
and makes communications it is for us to regard 
and consider what He speaks. He who walks in 
the midst of the golden candlesticks does not dic- 
tate lyCtters to His churches and send them to us 
from heaven, and yet leave it to our whims or 
option to give attention to them or not. Giving 
us these utterances of His mind and judgment, 
He gives with them His solemn command and 
requirement: "//^ that hath aji ear^ let hmt hear 
what the Spwit saith unto the churchesy 

First of all, we then have here a solemn rebuke 
to those who call themselves Christians, and yet 
seldom if ever look into their Bibles to read and 
study them, and do not seem to care what the 
Holy Ghost has spoken. Though the Scriptures 
are given to be to us our light and guide in mak- 
ing our way through this dark world, many so- 
called Christian people do not care for the read- 
ing of the word or whether they attend upon the 
preaching of it or not. Some think they have 
fulfilled their duty if they read a text now and 
then, and hear a sermon once a week when the 
weather is inviting or when they do not know 
what else to do with themselves of a Sunday. 
Having ears to hear, it is the vSaviour's command 



56 



THE LETTERS OF JESUS. 



to US to "hear what the Spirit saith;" but few is 
the number w^ho care to obey it. 

And when we come to a close comparison of 
the divine precepts with the ways in which many 
treat God's holy word, we cannot but wonder at 
His forbearance toward the great mass of those 
who make up our modern Christendom. With 
all the activities and zeal of these people of Bphe- 
sus, the Saviour still found occasion to fault them 
with having left their first love; but when we look 
at most of the church-people of our day, even in 
regard to this one item of "hearing what the 
Spirit saith,'' it would seem very doubtful if they 
ever had any real love at all. It becomes every 
one of us, therefore, to search and try ourselves 
well as to our treatment and hearing of what God 
has given for our learning, that through patience 
and comfort of the Scriptures we may have hope. 

Nor should we forget the fact that everything 
touching our salvation depends on the giving of 
an attentive ear to the divine word and the dili- 
gent use of our privileges, to hear, mark, learn, 
and inwardly digest what it contains. Jesus 
prayed for His followers: " Sanctify them by Thy 
truth, Thy word is truth;'' but how can the word 
sanctify us if we do not hear it and are not con- 
cerned to know and understand it ? It is written 
that "Whosoever shall call upon the name of the 
Lord shall be saved;" but " How shall they call 



TO THE CHURCH OF EPHESUS. 5/ 



on Him in whom they have not believed ? and 
how shall they believe in Him of whom they have 
no'i heard Hearing and right learning of the 
word lie at the basis of everything. If there is 
no proper hearing, there can be no right believ- 
' ing; and where no right faith is there can be no 
salvation. It is therefore in itself a most vital 
thing that, having ears, we should use them to 
hear and learn all the word and communications 
of God, as Jesus Himself here lays it upon every 
one to do. 

But this exhortation has also a deeper meaning. 
Every one has capacity to give attention, and so 
it is laid upon every one to employ that capacity. 
But not every one who hears with the outward 
ear does thereby really hear in the full sense of 
the Saviour's meaning. There is an inward hear- 
ing — a hearing in which the things spoken take 
hold on the soul and inform and move it — a hear- 
ing which answers to what is heard. There must 
be spiritual discernment, a taking in of the truth, 
and a heart-heeding of it, so as to be guided, in- 
fluenced, and controlled by it in our thinking and 
doing. 

There are people spoken of in the Scriptures as 
" uncircumcised in heart and ears," to whom the 
word is only as a pleasant sound which takes no 
hold to shape character or affect the life. The 
truth is, that a right-hearing ear in sacred things 



58 



THE LETTERS OF JESUS. 



is a gift of God and a matter of grace. It is a 
spiritual organ which only the Holy Ghost can 
create — a spiritual sense which God must awaken. 
Hence, also, if any one has not such a spiritual 
ear, his duty is to seek the grace by which he 
may have it, and inwardly hear, so as to become 
a doer of the work. It is a grace which God is 
ever ready and pleased to give to every one sin- 
cerely desirous to possess it or who wishes saving- 
ly to learn His truth. Nay, the power to create 
it is in the word itself, which is so constituted and 
inwrought with the energy of the Spirit that it 
will create its own way to an effectual hearing if 
people will only entertain it and listen to it with 
a view to learn and obey it. " The word of God 
is quick and powerful, sharper than any two-edged 
sword;" and if people will only receive it into 
"good and honest hearts," willing and anxious 
to be profited by it, its quickening power will be 
realized and fruit abundant will come of it. And, 
as the Saviour calls upon us to hear to good prac- 
tical purpose, He at the same time makes it our 
duty to set ourselves with devout desire and 
prayerfulness rightly to hear and to be conformed 
to His word. Some hear but little, yet learn 
much, while others hear much, yet learn but 
little; and the whole difference lies in the earn- 
estness or unconcern with which people hear or 
try to learn the truth. 



TO THE CHURCH OF EPHESUS. 



59 



Nor should we fail to notice in passing that He 
who dictates these lyCtters to the churches, and is 
Himself the speaker throughout, yet calls them 
" what the Spirit saithy He thus asserts an ab- 
solute identity between His doing and the Spirit's 
doing in the giving of the word. He would have 
us see and know that what He says the Holy Ghost 
says, and that what the Spirit says, that He says. 
The Holy Ghost is the Spirit of the Son, the same 
as of the Father; and so the Son is one in the 
same Trinity with both. What the Father doeth, 
that doeth the Son likewise; and what the Son 
saith is at the same time what the Spirit saith. 
What is here spoken is therefore in every sense 
and respect the absolute word of God, even the 
Triune God, which is sufficient reason why every 
one that hath an ear should hear. 

Notice, then, the character and attitude of those 
who become true hearers of the divine word. 

A great promise is here given. The word is 
that ' ' to him that overcometh ' ' great rewards are 
in reserve. To overcome implies conflict. It be- 
speaks enemies, antagonisms, and opposing hin- 
drances. We cannot speak of victory where there 
has been no contest, no enemies to conquer, no 
difficulties to surmount. And as the promise 
is "to him that overcometh^'^^ the idea is that 
every right hearer of the word is a combatant — 
one who has to contend with enemies and oppo- 



6o 



THE LETTERS OF JESUS. 



sition — one who has the character and attitude 
of a fighter — one who has to make his wa}' by 
conflict. 

It is a marked truth that as people become liv- 
ing Christians the}- become soldiers. This lies in 
the very nature of things, and cannot be other- 
wise, whether we like it or not. No one can 
reach heaven without fighting his way through 
an enemy's country. This world lieth in the 
wicked one. Satan is its prince and master. 
His dominion is indeed a usurpation which must 
eventually be destroyed, but for the present it 
holds. The great mass of this world's population 
is under Satan's sway. He rules in the children 
of disobedience. And under his kingdom we all 
are born, having the taint of his depravity upon 
us from our very coming into the world. In be- 
coming Christians we take another Lord, come 
under a new rule, enlist under another standard, 
and set up rebellion against the dominion of the 
Evil One; and so we are at once thrown into 
conflict with Satan's empire, and must contend 
and fight to maintain ourselves and come off" 
victorious. 

One thing we have to contend with is ignoi^ance 
— spiritual darkness. The reason why many are 
so easy in their sinfulness, poverty, and danger is 
that they do not know their real condition. Their 
moral perce^Dtions are darkened, their spiritual 



TO THE CHURCH OF EPHESUS. 6 1 

vision is obscured and perverted; tliey have no 
understanding of the situation. And it is hard 
to get men's eyes open to the facts. People have 
to learn of God, of truth, of Christ, of the reality 
of spiritual things, of the destitution and needs 
of the soul, and of the way of life. So many 
false impressions and miserable deceptions and 
lying persuasions have to be found out, con- 
quered, and put aside that a true man is in per- 
petual conflict and effort to come to a knowledge 
of the truth and to get hold of the only safe and 
saving wisdom. 

Another thing to be fought is our carjial nature^ 
with its many lusts warring against the soul. We 
are ever prone to be influenced most by what 
meets and gratifies the earthly senses and pleases 
our sensuous imagination. Many live only for 
the body and what pertains to the ease and glory 
of the earthly man. " The lusts of the flesh, and 
lusts of the eyes, and the pride of life" have 
wonderful power in all of us to control, enlist, 
and absorb our affections and activities, to the 
exclusion of spiritual and eternal things, which 
lie beyond the reach of our earthly senses. They 
are very potent to crowd God out of our thoughts. 
He who would be a right man has thus continu- 
ally to fight against this tendency or be drawn 
along in a way to starve and ruin his immortal 
nature. It takes effort, watching, and ever-re- 



62 



THE LETTERS OF JESUS. 



newed endeavor to keep alive to an unseen world, 
to endure as seeing Him who is invisible, and to 
be duly anxious about spiritual bread and good- 
fortune. Beset as we are in this world with the 
pressing claims and flattering promises of worldly 
good and pleasure, it requires a strong and per- 
petual fight to be successful in keeping ourselves 
in the love and service of God. When it comes 
to a question between a fortune and a dishonesty 
— between a fleshly delight and a religious duty 
— between honorable standing in the eyes of men 
and strict obedience to the clear commands of 
God — between our ease, likes, or fancies, and 
Gospel requirements — between plenty, happiness, 
and comfort in this world and self-denial and suf- 
fering for the rewards of eternity — between an in- 
viting lie and a humiliating truth — between mon- 
ey hoarded for the love of it and money to be 
parted with to answer God's calls — between pro- 
motion on earth and humble fidelity to the I^ord 
Jesus, — the decision is not so easy, and multitudes 
take the wrong side and are led captive by the 
devil's power. Duty and selfishness, faith and 
unbelief, the new man and the old, are ever 
wrestling and contending with each other in 
every one honestly desiring to maintain a Chris- 
tian life. Paul felt this struggle, and tells us of 
a law in his members warring against the law of 
his mind, and exclaims over the wretchedness 



TO THE CHURCH OF EPHESUS. 63 

often induced by the fact that when he would 
do good evil was present with him. 

And with all these things are the siLbtle activities 
of Satan and his evil confederates. These consti- 
tute an unseen, malignant, and multitudinous host 
of spiritual agencies and powers in league to de- 
feat the gracious will of God. From them come 
all sorts of cunning machinations and assaults 
which have to be encountered and overcome. In 
the garb of the best of friends, and often trans- 
forming themselves into angels of light, they 
obtrude themselves to deceive and lead astray, 
inject upon our minds every variety of insinua- 
tions and ill promptings, ever trying to persuade 
us that evil is good and good evil, and imposing 
upon multitudes of unsuspecting souls. We are 
told that Satan goeth about, through his various 
emissaries, as a roaring lion, seeking whom he 
may devour. Paul assures us that our fight and, 
warfare are not only with flesh and blood, but 
with principalities and powers, the rulers in the 
darkness of this world and wicked spirits in the 
air. They can do us no mischief if we are firm 
in resisting them, and use the means of with- 
standing them, and keep on the alert against 
being betrayed into their power; but it demands 
constant vigilance, effort, and many sharp con- 
flicts to resist and vanquish them and their cun- 
ning devices. They have many agents in this 



64 



THE LETTERS OF JESUS. 



world to solicit, tempt, and influence us against 
the truth, to try to laugh us out of faith in the 
Gospel and the duties of piety, and by false sci- 
ence and a show of superior wisdom to undermine 
our confidence. And in one way or another we 
constantly have to contend with these unclean 
spirits. 

These enemies we are obliged to withstand, re- 
sist, and conquer, or they will conquer us. En- 
listing under Christ's banner, we enter upon a 
war, and cannot come out of it but as victors or 
vanquished. It is often a very trying war, but 
the helps are ample, and success is sure if we are 
only vigilant, courageous, and true; and grand 
rewards await him who " overcometh." 

To encourage and strengthen us in this strife 
the Saviour here says to each and every one, 
"Jt' him that overcometh zvill I give to eat of the 
tree of life zvhich is in the midst of the paradise 
of Gody Beautiful promise! and as rich in sig- 
nificance as it is in beauty. 

What all is meant by "the tree of life" we 
cannot fully explain. We first read of it in the 
happy beginning of our world, when man was 
innocent and Hden was his home and God was 
his familiar friend. Jehovah planted it. It was 
"in the midst of the garden " as the central orna- 
ment and the most blessed product of that abode 
of blessedness. The eating of the fruit of it in 



TO THE CHURCH OF EFHESUS. 65 



.the primeval Paradise seems to have been meant 
as a sacrament of fellowship with life — a pledge, 
support, and appropriation of life eternal for soul 
and body. 

There was once much sacredness in eating, 
though there is so much sin connected with it 
now; and when redemption once comes to its 
completion that sacred eating is to be restored. 
If saints in glory do not need to eat, they can 
eat; and as the fall came by eating disobediently, 
and for it man has ever since been excluded from 
the tree having sublimest virtue, so redemption is 
to bring man once more within reach of that tree 
to eat of its blest fruits. Paradise restored is the 
tree of life restored, and man redeemed is to find 
it one of the happiest features of his immortality 
that he shall be given to eat of that tree. Sin cut 
us off from it, and the victory of faith in the Son 
of God is to bring us back to it and it to us. There 
will be neither hunger nor thirst in heaven, nor 
are we to suppose that there will be any waste in 
the energies of the glorified calling for recupera- 
tion by means of corporeal digestion; but still, 
there will be some kind of eating there — eating 
of the fruits of the tree of life — some deep com- 
munion with Life, constituting one of the highest 
joys of eternit)-. 

Very mucli is said about Life in connection 
with the rewards of the saints. "Eternal Life" 
5 



66 



THE LETTERS OF JESUS. 



— "everlasting Life" — "entrance into Life" — ,. 
" a crown of Life " — " the river of Life " — " the 
tree of Life," are everywhere most hopefully and 
joyously spoken of. Bven for Christians in this 
world we read of "the bread of Life" — "the 
water of Life" — "the Spirit of Life" — "the 
grace of Life" — "the savor of Life unto Life" 
— "the power of Life" — "the word of Life." 
Wisdom, as commended in the book of Proverbs, 
is said to be "a tree of Life to them that lay hold 
on her. " It is said that ' ' the fruit of righteous- 
ness is a tree of Life." And, like the golden 
table of showbread which ever stood in the an- 
cient tabernacle and temple for the priests, so the 
Tree of Life stands in all the golden street-way 
of the New Jerusalem w^itli monthly fruits for the 
immortal ones in glory, to which all that have 
washed their robes have free and unlimited 
access. 

What all this may mean is more than we can 
conceive, but privilege and blessedness unspeak- 
able are indicated. There is a heavenly Paradise. 
The presence of God is there. It is luminous 
with the glory of God and the Lamb. Nothing 
false or unclean or unsavory can ever enter it. It 
is the everlasting home-place of the saints. Its 
foundations are jewels. Its walks are gold. Its 
watchmen are angels. It is the metropolis of in- 
tensest, highest, purest, and holiest Life. Its 



TO THE CHURCH OF EPHESUS. 6/ 

rivers are rivers of Life. Its trees are trees of 
Ivife. Its waters are waters of Life. Its inhabit- 
ants are those who have eternal Life and have 
entered into Life, and inherit ever more and more 
of everlasting Life. And this is the lot and por- 
tion which the blessed Saviour here engages to 
give to him that overcometh. 

The promise to the victor also corresponds to 
the ill to be vanquished. These Bphesians were 
wasting and failing in their first love. Their 
spiritual life was beginning to yield and weaken. 
There was danger that they would lose the vital 
energy of religious devotion. They were grow- 
ing faint and flabby in the life of faith. This 
weakening and downwardness they were now 
called on to resist and fight and overcome. And 
the promise to the victor is in the line of the 
trouble they were to combat. They were be- 
coming inwardly weak, therefore there was prom- 
ise of spiritual nourishment. There was decay 
of life, and so there was promise of the highest 
and most plenteous food of life. For a wasting 
state they were to have Paradise. For their 
weakening in the springs of life they were to 
have to eat of the Tree of Life. 

The special rewards of the victorious always 
take their intensest form from the sort of work 
done or the particular kind of trouble and ad- 
versity conquered and surmounted. The Ephe- 



68 



THE LETTERS OF JESUS. 



sians were fainting in the fervency of love and 
the energy of spirituality, and they were pointed 
to the Tree of lyife in the midst of the Paradise 
of God. The Smyrniotes were in great trial of 
persecution, under which many yielded up their 
lives as martyrs, and they were pointed to ex- 
emption from the second death. And so in each 
instance the kind of weakness and trouble to be 
overcome reappears in the peculiarity of the prom- 
ise to the victor, and those who conquer in their 
contest with the worst have the highest reward. 

But we must not overlook the individuality of 
this promise. It is not made to the church as a 
body, but to each separate member of it: "To 
him that overcometh." Jesus well knew that the 
earthly church, as such, would never overcome, 
and that there never would be a church made up 
of none but overcomers. But He knew also that 
in the faultiest churches there are still some true 
and faithful ones to maintain the fight unto final 
victory. Hence the promise is to the individual 
members. 

It is not the general fight of the Church against 
the world that is here in view, but the individual 
fight of each soul with the errors, weaknesses, and 
faults that are around us, in the Church as well 
as out of it. Let the Church, as such, be and do 
as it will; we are not to look so much to it as to 
ourselves — not to what others may be and do, but 



TO THE CHURCH OF EPHESUS. 69 

to what we are. The Church cannot hear, believe, 
and love for lis, nor repent for us, nor overcome 
for us; we must each hear, believe, love, and over- 
come for ourselves. The Church, as it appears 
on earth as a whole, cannot hope to be admitted 
to the Tree of lyife. It embraces too many faulty 
members for that. But as individuals we may 
indulge this hope if we struggle on in faith. We 
can never hope that this our Church of the Holy 
Communion, or any other church, shall ultimate- 
ly appear as a body in Paradise; but we dare hope, 
blessed be God! that we as individual members 
may appear there. And to us as individuals the 
promise is that if we only hold on, work on, pray 
on, and exert ourselves in the diligent use of the 
grace given us, and press our warfare to final vic- 
tory, Jesus will give us place and reward accord- 
ing to the trials we have withstood, the weak- 
nesses we have overcome, the victories over self 
and sin and error we have won. 

Ah yes, dear friends, though Sodom blazes be- 
hind us, Jerusalem's gates of pearl stand open in 
our front. Whatever desolations of once-glorious 
churches, dissolving of cities, perishing of states, 
or crumbling of thrones under Jehovah's judg- 
ments may come to pass, our home is Paradise, 
our food the fruit of the Tree of Life, if only we 
fight on to victory. And in that immortal retreat 
of peace and purity and love no wintry cloud shall 



70 



THE LETTERS OE JESUS. 



come to cast its chilling shadow on ns, no hnrri- 
cane or earthquake uproot the place of our rest, 
no lightning's blast or tornado scathe or enemy 
assail; for our life shall be in full fellowship with 
its Source, never more to be severed from the food 
that nourishes it to the fulness of its being and 
blessedness. 

All hopes, all wishes, all the love 

We sighed for, pined for, ever. 
Shall bloom around us there ahove, 

And last with us for ever. 



Rev. 2:8-11: "And unto the angel of the church in Smyrna, 
write : These things saith the first and the last, which was dead, and 
is alive ; I know thy works, and tribulation, and poverty (but thou 
art rich), and I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews, 
and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan. Fear none of those 
things which thou shalt suffer. Behold, the devil shall cast some of 
you into prison, that ye may be tried ; and ye shall have tribulation ten 
days. Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of 
life. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the 
churches : He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death." 

F the seven churches this in Smyrna was 
the most afHicted and oppressed. It was 
poor; it was much reviled by false pre- 
tenders; it was sorely persecuted. Satan's ma- 
lignity seemed to have taken on special fierceness 
against it, casting some of its members into prison 
and raising fiery storms against its venerable pas- 
tor, the holy Polycarp. The church of Ephesus 
was in peril from inward weakening and the de- 
cay of love, but the church of Smyrna was in 
peril from its external enemies and the afflictions 
that were upon it from without. And to this 
state of sorrow and suffering the Saviour chiefly 
speaks in this lyctter. 

71 



72 



THE LE TIERS OF JESUS. 



Already in the superscription He describes 
Himself in the way best fitted to comfort and 
establish them against the afflictions they were 
in. It is not His walking in the midst of the 
golden candlesticks, and His holding of the seven 
stars in His right hand, that He here puts for- 
ward, but His being the First and the Last, His 
having died and yet being alive again, and living 
for ever. He thus proclaimed Himself to their 
confidence as older, mightier, and more enduring 
than the persons and powers which were oppress- 
ing them — as having gone through similar expe- 
riences Himself, and hence able to sympathize 
with their griefs — as having gloriously triumphed 
and risen to blessed immortality notwithstanding 
that He suffered and died — as being indeed just 
such a Lord and Saviour as they needed to keep 
them amid their tribulations and bring them 
through to final glory and blessedness. 

It is something for poor sufferers to know that 
the}' have some one in wdiom to trust who is 
qualified to master the case; that it is not in an 
arm of flesh they hope; that He whom they look 
to as their Saviour is the same who saw the stars 
kindle and suns bud into being, and who will live 
on in the same unwaning life and majesty should 
stars and suns expire and all material creations be 
changed like a wornout garment. Nay more, that 
while His hands propel the worlds in their cir- 



TO THE CHURCH OF SMYRNA. 73 

cuits He wears the nature of a brother-man, and 
has a heart that beats in sympathy with every 
pang in ours; that He Himself has gone through 
heavier sorrows and a far deeper death than any 
that can ever come upon His believing followers; 
that He bears with Him upon His heavenly throne 
the thorn-marks and the nail-prints to keep alive 
His tenderness and consideration for His sorrow- 
ing people on earth, still struggling with trib- 
ulation and death for His name's sake; and 
that in the power of an endless life He ever 
lives, the imperishable vanquisher of all the 
potencies of death and hell. Thus the blessed 
Lord Jesus presented Himself to these suffering 
saints at Smyrna, as also to all His people, in 
their trials. 

Very tenderly also does He speak : ' '/ know thy 
worksy These works were neither many nor 
great. The people were too poor, too oppressed, 
too feeble and afflicted, to do any great things. 
But the smallness of their works did not exclude 
them from the loving Saviour's regard. He no- 
tices the mite of the widow as well as the costly 
donations of the rich. He estimates men accord- 
ing to the grace in the heart, and not according 
to the strength in the hand. He does not look 
so much at the brilliancy of our deeds as at the 
cheerful willingness of the soul to do what it can. 
Not the greatness of the outward achievement, 



74 



THE LETTERS OE JESUS. 



but the inward principle of devoted love, is what 
He considers. 

Great things are expected of those who have 
ten talents, and it will be all the worse for them 
if their works do not come np to their ability; but 
the-faithful emplo3'ment of one talent, if that be 
all we have, though the results ma}' count little 
or nothing in men's esteem, is as great and pre- 
cious to the heart of Jesus as the more showy 
works of the rich and mighty. The penny of 
the little child and the prayers of the helpless 
invalid are as dear to Jesus and rise as high in 
heaven as the thousands and thousands of the 
millionnaire or the achievements of the Church's 
strongest champions. When people have it not 
in their power to do, and yet with earnest and 
devoted heart do what they can, and out of their 
weakness and penury show that the living power 
of grace is in them, even their little works rise 
like incense to the skies and have their record in 
the notice and commendation of our Lord equally 
with the greater things of those who possess su- 
perior ability. To the poorest and the weakest, 
as well as to the richest and the strongest, the 
Saviour says, I know thy zvorks^ And whether 
we do much or little, exert ourselves to the full 
stretch of our ability or lag behind in what we 
might readily achieve, we need never think that 
our Lord and Judge is not taking note of it, or 



TO THE CHURCH OF SMYRNA. 



75 



that He does not take full measure of it accord- 
ing to what is in our power and what is not. 

But Jesus not only took knowledge of the 
works of this poor church, but also of its 
afflicted estate. "/ knozv thy tribulation and 
poverty ^''^ says He; and a whole volume of grace 
and tenderness was in those words. 

Christian suffering, like Christian rejoicing, is 
something of a mystery to the world. The car- 
nal mind cannot understand it, and takes little or 
no account of it. The world does not at all enter 
into a Christian's experience or a Christian's trib- 
ulation. A true child of God grieves over things 
which the world cares nothing for, and rejoices in 
things in which the world sees no happiness. As 
John wrote, so it is ever: "The world knoweth 
us not, because it knew Him not." But our Sa- 
viour knoweth — "/ know thy tribulation y Not 
as a spy, not as an inquisitor, not in the cold om- 
niscience of one who knows everything, but as 
tfie head knows the hurt that has befallen some 
member of the body — as a mother contemplates 
the suffering of her darling child — as a generous 
heart enters into the misfortunes of his near and 
dear friend, — so does Jesus know our tribulation. 
He knows it not only with the head, but with the 
heart. 

He knows it as a thing which He Himself has 
either sent or permitted. Nothing can happen 



76 



THE LETTERS OF JESUS. 



without Him who is "head over all things to the 
Church." There is no such thing as chance — no 
fortuitous concourse of things to affect and shape 
destiny without amenability to the all-governing 
power now lodged in the hands of Jesus. No 
tribulation can come to a Christian — no headache 
or heartache, no fever or consumption, no loss of 
fortune or treachery of friends, no bereavement, 
no persecution, no weakness, no poverty, no days 
of darkness or temptation, no distress of body or 
sorrow of soul — but as Jesus wills, appoints, or 
allows. We may often lose sight of the fact, but 
it is the fact all the same, that never a woe falls 
upon us which has not first been in the wise con- 
sideration and beneficent bosom of our blessed 
Lord and Saviour. It had to receive its commis- 
sion from His loving heart before it could touch 
us. He therefore knows our tribulation, and 
knows it far better than we ourselves. 

He also knows the need and use of it. He 
might prevent it if He would, but that might 
not be the best. It would not be well for us if 
we were never afflicted, never disappointed, never 
crossed or troubled in our passage through this 
world. Uninterrupted prosperity would be seri- 
ous misfortune to a Christian. There is " a needs 
be " that trial and suffering should come to disci- 
pline and soften us. A hurt child thinks of its 
parent, and hastens to that parent with its misfor- 



TO THE CHURCH OF SMYRNA. 



77 



tune, and is all the more loving and devoted when 
properly rebuked and chastised for its errors and 
wrong-doings; and we need similar experience, 
that we may remember whose we are and where 
to find our true help and comfort. Bach heart 
knows its own sorrows best, but, whatever the 
grief, there is some moral and spiritual need for 
it. However inexplicable to us, Jesus understands 
it, and knows what it is to do for us and what the 
mischief would be without it. 

It is necessary that there should be sickness, 
bereavements, losses, reverses, disappointments, 
and sufferings for us in this world. They go 
along with Christ's sufferings to fulfil an import- 
ant office in helping us to our better destiny. 
iVfflictions and trials are some of the links in the 
chain which is to lift us to true faith and trust in 
God, and which cannot be dispensed with until 
we come to the heavenly kingdom, where such 
discipline is no , more needed. Like surgical ope- 
rations to save the life of the body, so earthly af- 
flictions are to aid in saving the life of the soul. 
Our heavenly Physician knows this, and hence 
does not exempt us from sharp, disabling, and 
bitter pains and sorrowful experiences here on 
earth. A true believer is always made better by 
suffering, and can often reach and accomplish 
through his adversities what could not have been 
without them. And, whatever the tribulation, 



73 



THE LETTERS OE JESUS. 



Jesus knows it and has weighed all the purposes 
of goodness and grace for which it is sent or per- 
mitted. 

It is a hard thing to suffer and to be always ex- 
posed to the buffetings and ills of this world; but 
it is also a precious thing if we did but see it in 
all its bearings and effects. Darkness is repulsive, 
but we need it in order to see the beauty of the 
stars. I doubt not that the redeemed in heaven 
will as earnestly thank the Lord for what they 
suffer here as for their days of peace, health, and 
sunshine. Heaven will be all the sweeter and 
more enjoyable for the sorrows of the way through 
which it has been reached. Myriads will be there 
at last who never would have reached that blessed 
world but for the tribulations they experienced on 
earth. All this is plain to our blessed Saviour's 
eyes, and hence He does not exempt us from 
earthly trials. 

But He also knows our tribulation to sympa- 
thize with us in it. It is as painful to a loving 
parent to chastise an erring child as it is for the 
child; and we may be sure that Jesus has no pleas- 
ure in the pains and trials which yet are so need- 
ful for us. Not a pang goes through the heart of 
a child of God but it also goes through the heart 
of Christ. Whatsoever is done to the least of 
these He takes as done unto Himself Christians 
are members of His body, of His flesh, and of 



TO THE CHURCH OF SMYRNA. yg 

His bones; and when they are hurt He feels it 
even upon His throne, "for we have not an high 
priest which cannot be touched with the feeling 
of our infirmity." He has been through the fires 
and knows the pains they give, and He is not un- 
moved as He sees His people writhing in the 
scorching flames. He sits by the crucible like a 
refiner of silver, intensely watching the precious 
metal while he directs and fans the fires, looking 
to see His own image reflected in the shining mass 
that He may then quickly deliver it from the 
burning. Not one pang or moment more in fire 
than is needed to this end will He allow; and 
during all the process His loving eyes and anx- 
ious heart are with the sufferer in the trying 
pains. What necessity requires Him to appoint 
He softens by His sympathizing tenderness. 
However lowly and poor and neglected and for- 
gotten the suffering child of God may be, there 
is an electric cord between it and Him. Nothing 
can happen to us here that is not at the same time 
before His presence in heaven. He knows our 
tribulation and our poverty — knows it to feel for 
us and to sustain and comfort us in it and to direct 
it to our greater glory in the end. 

These people of Smyrna were great sufferers. 
A powerful cTass of men, claiming to be the rep- 
resentatives of the only true religion, did all they 
could to. bring them into contempt and disgrace. 



8o 



THE LETTERS OE JESUS. 



The heathen were very adverse to them. They 
were enduring much, and were to encounter still 
severer woes. By the malignity of their enemies 
some of them were to be cast into prison, others 
to die as martyrs, and fearful trial was to be upon 
them all. Polycarp, the friend and disciple of St. 
John, was then their venerable pastor. For many 
long years he had labored and suffered with them. 
But he was to be taken from them and burned 
alive because he would not deny Christ and abjure 
allegiance to the Saviour whom he served and 
preached. 

An account of the martyrdom of this noble man 
has come down to us. Dragged before the Roman 
proconsul, he was promised liberty if only he would 
abjure Christ, but his answer was, " Eighty-and- 
six years have I served Him, and He hath never 
wronged me; and how can I blaspheme my King, 
who hath saved me?" At this touching confes- 
sion Jews and heathen alike clamored to have him 
burnt alive, and hurried to gather the fuel for the 
purpose. When they were about to fasten him to 
the stake he bade them spare their nails — that 
God would keep him steadfast in the fires without 
the need of such fastenings; and counted it a 
blessedness to be thought worthy of a place 
among the martyrs of Jesus. And even amid 
the fires which consumed his mortal body he was 
heard singing and praising God and blessing the 



rO THE CHURCH OF SMYRNA. 8 1 

name of His Son Jesus Christ. He was ' ' the 
angel" of the church to whom the word was, 
"Fear none of those things which thou shalt 
suffer. Be faithful unto death and I will give 
thee a crown of life." And this is the way the 
holy man fulfilled the divine directions. 

We know not, dear friends, what awaits us in 
the future. We only know that in this world we 
shall have tribulation. Our calling in Christ Je- 
sus necessarily leads through suffering and trial. 
It may be lighter to some and heavier to others; 
" but what son is he whom the Father chasteneth 
not ?- ' It is well that our eyes are holden from 
what the chastisement is to be, lest we should be 
unfitted for present duty; but we may well believe 
that the brightest home and the happiest heart 
will find coming days of trial, shadow, and dark- 
ness. 

And yet there is no reason to anticipate the day 
of ill and sorrow with dread and trembling. All 
things are under the dominion of the loving Je- 
sus, and His word is, ^^Fear none of those things 
7vhich thou shalt suffer. Christ also suffered, 
leaving us an example that we should follow His 
steps. Though persecuted unto death, a man of 
sorrows and acquainted with grief, He soon lived 
again, and is alive and crowned for ever in heav- 
enly majesty and glory. And as it was no loss to 
Him that He suffered, so neither will it be to 

6 



82 



THE LETTERS OF JESUS. 



those who like Him commit themselves unto God 
as unto a faithful Creator. 

We may be disposed to pity the man who pines 
in sickness, or whose home bereavement has hung 
with desolation and mourning, or who is called 
to wrestle with the pangs and straits of poverty, 
or whom reverses of fortune have bereft of the 
accumulations of years of toil. But it is a mis- 
placed pity, "for if ye be without chastisement, 
whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, 
and not sons. ' ' There is more of divine goodness 
and mercy in it than if it were not. When the 
burden is the heaviest, then redeeming grace is 
nearest. 

There is nothing like the darkness to lift up 
people's eyes toward heaven. The afflictions of 
time, to those who love God, are all investments 
to yield the sublimer revenues in eternity. They 
are the opportunities God gives for the better ex- 
emplification and strengthening of our faith, and 
which open the way to immortal crowns. And 
shall we pity those to whom God thus comes with 
chance for grander promotions in heaven ? Shall 
we deprecate what is sent to bring us to eternal 
glories? Nay," Blessed is the man that endureth 
temptation: for when he is tried he shall receive 
the crown of life." 

The great matter for us is to be faithful; that 
is, to be full of faith and confidence in the lyord 



TO THE CHURCH OF SMYRNA. 83 

Jesus, and to be true to that faith even if it should 
cost us our lives. At the worst, the sufferings of 
time are limited and will soon be over. They en- 
dure but for a moment. They are light as com- 
pared with those which Jesus endured for us. 
And if courageously endured without faltering 
in our faith, they connect with everlasting gains. 
The cross is the way to the crown. Though our 
life here be a living death, if we but hold on vic- 
toriously in our sacred confidence the present 
dying will all the more certainly exempt from 
that worse death to come to the unfaithful and 
unbelieving. Christians have all their purgatory 
in this world, and beyond is "a crown of life" 
for every courageous and faithful soul. Yea, 
saith the Saviour, ' ' Be thou faithful unto death, 
and I will give thee a crown of life." 

There is yet one important remark thrown in 
parenthetically by the Saviour in describing the 
state of these afflicted Smyrniotes. Though their 
works were few and weak, their tribulation great, 
their poverty extreme, yet He says, " bitt thou art 
richy It seems like a contradiction, but there is 
a wealth which is poverty, and a poverty which 
is riches. The poorest to the world's eye may 
yet be the richest toward God, and the richest in 
the things of this world may be the poorest in the 
eyes of Christ. These people were rich in their 



84 



THE LETTERS OE JESUS. 



poverty, and their very poverty was riches, just as 
the sorrows they experienced in this world helped 
to make clear their title to the priceless treasures 
of eternity. A believing poor man is ten thou- 
sand times richer than a Croesus or a Rothschild 
without living faith and trust in Jesus. If w^e 
would be rich indeed, we must first of all have 
our hearts set on the true riches and live for the 
heavenly crown. 

Oh, give nie the flowers that droop not nor die I 
A treasure up yonder ! a liome in the sky, 
Where beautiful things in their beauty still stay. 
And where riches ne'er fly from the blessed away ! 



nocture jfifti)* 



Rev. 2 : 12, 13: "And to the angel of the church in Pergamos 
write : These things saith he which hath the sharp sword with two 
edges ; I know thy works, and where thou dwellest, even where Sa- 
tan's seat is : and thou holdest fast my name, and hast not denied my 
faith, even in those days wherein Antipas was my faithful martyr, who 
was slain among you, where Satan dwelleth." 

HB I^etter to the poor and sorely-tried 
churcli of Smyrna was one of almost 
unmingled eulogy and encouragement, 
even though it had false professors to contend 
with. Its afflictions seem to have been good for 
it, and to have helped to keep it alive and true to 
its Saviour and to its profession. It was different 
with the church at Pergamos. That was prosper- 
ous in some things, but defective in others. The 
Ivctter to it has in it various censures, admoni- 
tions, and rebukes. It had a distinguished and 
honorable record in some respects, but some 
things were creeping in which needed to be 
corrected in order to the maintenance of proper 
Christian fidelity and devotion. 

The Saviour presents Himself to this church 
as "He which hath the sharp sword with two 

85 



86 



THE LETTERS OF JESUS. 



edges." In the preceding chapter this sword is 
spoken of as proceeding out of the Saviour's 
mouth. It is therefore something of a word- 
siuord. The ofi&ce of a sword is to pierce, cut, 
sever, and kill, and a similar office belongs to the 
divine Avord. Though intended to save, it is also 
intended to kill. Paul says the word of God is 
quick and powerful" — a living and potent in- 
strument — ''sharper than any two-edged sword, 
piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and 
spirit, and of the joints and marrow." It is not 
so much an instrument of physical death as an 
instrument of moral cleavage, which cuts into 
souls, penetrates consciences, divides between true 
and false, whether in doctrine, sentiment, or life, 
and acts as a killing thing to what is at variance 
with truth and righteousness. It makes havoc 
of the hopes and good opinions which sinners 
have of themselves, pierces, wounds, and lacer- 
ates their self-security, cuts right and left against 
everything contrary to God, hews down the tow- 
ering conceit of the proud and self-sufficient, and 
utterly slays the false hopes by which many fond- 
Iv deceive themselves. Paul at one time took 
ereat credit to himself as a holv and saintlv man, 
and thought he was a very hero of Jehovah's 
cause while trying to crush out the growing 
Church of Christ. But when this swwd of the 
Spirit penetrated his soul he says he " It 



TO THE CHURCH OF PER GAM OS. 8/ 

killed him — killed liim in that valuation of him- 
self in which he previously lived and gloried. 
And there is always in the word an active judg- 
ment-power which slays the wicked, and under 
which the finally impenitent must go down into 
death eternal. 

In this church of Pergamos there was a good 
deal which needed moral surgery. There was 
some moral cutting and killing to be done to 
bring all right — a severance between things which 
did not belong together, and the destruction of 
evils which had taken shape and were working 
unfavorably. Hence the Saviour addressed them 
as He who has the double-edged sword, intimating 
something of what He was about to say and do 
in the character He takes. The exhibition of the 
knife bespoke moral cleavage and dissection, in 
which there was to be no sparing of the wrong, 
and death to everything foreign and offensive to 
the truth. Nor is there any comfort, hope, or 
standing for any Church or for any man against 
the word and truth of God. There goeth forth 
out of the mouth of Christ a sword of double edge, 
tempered, like the old Damascus blade, to trim a 
feather and cut an iron bar, and fitted to pierce 
and cleave and smite and kill everything that rises 
against truth- and righteousness. One reason why 
so many hate and avoid the truth of God is that 
it hurts them, awaking the lashes of conscience 



88 



THE LETTERS OF JESUS. 



and utterly destroying their hopes. And this sort 
of hurt was now to come to this church. 

But only favorable things are noted first. The 
same announcement made with regard to the other 
churches is made to this: "/ know thy worksy 
These are sweet words to those who are honestly 
toiling in the I^ord's cause, though anything but 
assuring to the unfaithful and the wicked. It 
surely is a comfort and encouragement to the good 
to know that every thought and act of devotion 
to the Saviour is like a ray of light rising to the 
approving view of Heaven, to be treasured among 
the glories of Jehovah's throne; that every deed 
of love and duty, however unknown to men, has 
a voice that is heard in heaven; and that though 
it should be no more than the gift of a cup of cold 
water to a thirsty disciple or a prayer of earnest 
intercession breathed in solitude, it is registered 
in the mind of Jesus for appropriate honor and 
reward. 

But with our works Christ also notes our places 
and surroundings. The church of Pergamos was 
unfavorably located. It had hard struggles for its 
life because of its unfavorable neighborhood. But 
Jesus took account of this. The word is, "I 
know thy works, and where thou dwellesf^ even 
where Satan^ s seat is.^' Whatever is to be un- 
derstood by this throne of Satan, the language 
assigns to Pergamos the bad pre-eminence of 



TO THE CHURCH OF PERGAMOS. 



being a head-centre of antagonism to Christ and 
the Gospel. It was a very nnwholesome atmo- 
sphere in which to grow plants of grace, an ill 
vicinage for the development of a pure church of 
Christ. That little congregation was therefore 
like a bark launched upon a stormy sea — like a 
lone rose blooming amid desert sands — like a flow- 
eret amid Alpine snows — like a blossom opening 
out upon the bosom of an avalanche, — where ex- 
istence was very precarious. But Jesus had not 
failed to note the fact, and to consider all the dif- 
ficulties and perils of the situation. 

Christians, especially young Christians, often 
find themselves in very unfavorable associations 
and surroundings. Sometimes they are thrown 
into godless families, where prayer is ridiculed, 
the Bible made a jest of, religion scorned, and 
anxiety about salvation rated as a craziness. Or 
their place may be in houses of business whose 
heads are mere worldlings or skeptics, and the 
employes are mostly profane and godless. Or 
they may be thrown into engagements, pursuits, 
and duties which for the time exclude them from 
the place of worship, from the Lord's Day rest, 
and from the company of fellow-believers. Or 
they may be forced along b}' a certain rush and 
tide of things contrary to their wishes and against 
their better convictions. All such are in adverse 
and trying situations, making it hard to maintain 



90 



THE LETTERS OF JESUS. 



a correct and devoted life. But Jesus considers it, 
and knows where the}' dwell, and sympathizes 
tenderly with His tried and disabled children who 
fain would honor and serve Him better but for the 
hindrances they cannot control. He knows it to 
consider it, and to sympathize with the hard ne- 
cessity, though not to excuse unfaithfulness. Be- 
cause these people dwelt where Satan's throne 
was, they were judged with leniency; but where- 
in they were unfaithful or untrue they were still 
rebuked and condemned. 

Barks on stormy seas, and roses amid desert 
sands, and flowerets amid Alpine snows, and blos- 
soms opening on the bosom of the avalanche, may 
still live, and God means that they should live, 
and they blamably fail of their destiny if they do 
not. Good soldiers must do picket duty in isola- 
tion from the massed body of the army as well as 
stand shoulder to shoulder with their comrades in 
line of battle. We may not expect dahlias to 
flourish by the side of glaciers, but we may yet 
look there for plants and flowers, perhaps a little 
different in their order and less luxuriant and 
towering in their growth, but still holding up 
their little bells of sacred purity to God and re- 
flecting from their ice-bound homes the rainbow 
tints and modest graces of the skies. And so it 
was in the case of this church of Pergamos. 
Though planted in close neighborhood with Sa- 



TO THE CHURCH OF PERGAMOS. 9 1 

tan's throne, it still grew some blessed flowers of 
grace and genuine devotion. 

Notice the items mentioned to its credit: 
^^ThoiL holdest fast My Jiamey The Proverbs 
declare that "The name of the I^ord is a strong 
tower; the righteous runneth into it and is set on 
high," And so Christians are said to be washed, 
justified, sanctified " in the name of the Lord Je- 
sus." The name of Christ is that which presents 
Christ, which makes Him known to us, which 
brings Him within the range of our apprehension 
and faith. Holding fast His name is holding fast 
to Him as we have learned to know Him and to 
trust in Him. 

There are many expressions and words by which 
Christ is presented to us and by which we learn 
who and what He is; but they are all His name. 
Confessing and holding to what we thus learn and 
know of Him as our Lord and Saviour is confess- 
ing and holding to His name. The angel said, 
" Call His name Jesus," which sets Him forth as 
our Saviour — the one in whom standeth our sal- 
vation. He was also "called the Christ .^'^^ which 
presents Him as God's anointed One^ the long- 
promised Prophet and King spoken of by all the 
ancient seers as He who was to come to be the 
deliverer of His people. Jeremiah said of Him, 
"This is His name whereby He shall be called. 
The or d our Righteousness and Isaiah prophe- 



92 



THE LETTERS OF JESUS. 



sied of Him, they "shall call His name Im77ian- 
iiel^^^ which, being interpreted, is God with us. 
All of these are alike Christ's name, and tell what 
He is, and express what we are to take and hold 
Him to be. 

If He is our Righteousness, then He is the pro- 
pitiation for our sins, taking them upon Himself 
to atone for and cancel them, while He puts His 
holy obedience and justifying merit upon us in 
their place. The whole doctrine of substitution, 
of redemption through His blood, of acceptance 
with God through the virtue of His sacrifice for 
us, is thus included. And to hold fast to this 
name of Christ is to believe in Him, to cling to 
Him as our substitute and propitiation, to plead 
and rest on His rig^hteousness as the g^round of 
our forgiveness and justification. 

And as an indispensable prerequisite to His 
being our Righteousness His further name is God 
with 2is. No mere creature-righteousness could 
ever avail for us. Only He who is above law 
could merit by obedience to the law, and only in 
the nature which had sinned could the required 
obedience and sacrifice be rendered. He therefore 
had to be both God and man in one. Nor can we 
have a right and sure idea of God except as mani- 
fested in Jesus Christ. As we are sinful beings, 
we cannot know what to hope from God except 
as He has revealed Himself and His will in Jesus. 



TO THE CHURCH OF F ERG AMOS. 93 

If He is just, how can He relax His justice to 
pardon sin? And if He is merciful to forgive sin 
and to require nothing for it, how can He main- 
tain His moral government? How far, then, His 
justice will relax in the punishment of sin, or 
His mercy triumph in pardoning sin, no one can 
tell ; and there is nothing certain on which to base 
our hopes. It is only as we see sovereign justice, 
a Father's love, and a Creator's power combined 
and harmonized in Jesus that we come to see and 
know how salvation can come. God cannot for- 
give sin without ample satisfaction for it; and yet 
He can forgive the greatest sinner because Christ 
has died and stands surety for him. Here alone 
we find a clear and certain basis for confidence 
and hope. Christ being the I^ord our Righteous- 
ness, we see and know, to our joy, that God can 
be just and yet justify the ungodly. In nature 
God is above us, so that we cannot reach or know 
Him ; in the law, He is against us and a consum- 
ing fire to the guilty, so that we dare not approach 
Him; but in Christ He is our reconciled Father, 
waiting and anxious to welcome us to His bosom. 

And to Him we can now come with all the lib- 
erty and confidence of dear children. 

This Name, then, this apprehension of the blessed 
lyord Jesus, these people held fast. There were 
some who would not at all believe or receive it, 
but these Christians held it fast. To their credit 



94 



THE LETTERS OF JESUS. 



and honor it is said of them, "Thou holdest fast 
My name, and hast not denied My faith." Not all 
the terrors of martyrdom could induce them to let 
go their confidence and hope thus built upon the 
Saviour's name. They held firm, "even in those 
days wherein Antipas was His faithful martyr, 
who was slain among them, where Satan dwelt." 

And this is ever the chief thing in Christianity, 
that we hold fast to Christ's name as the anointed 
Saviour, the Lord our Righteousness, God mani- 
fest in the flesh. Without this all knowledge, all 
works, all virtues are nothing toward our salva- 
tion, and can give us no sure hope of pardon for 
our sins — no ground on which to count on heaven. 
^^Dost thoji believe on the Son of Godf^ is ever 
the vital question with us; and without that faith 
there is nothing left but a fearful looking-for of 
judgment and fiery indignation. But, holding 
fast such a faith, and building only on this name 
of Jesus, we can afford to suffer for it in this 
world, and endure to be ridiculed, persecuted, and 
even killed ; for He who is our Hope will not for- 
sake us or go back from His name. 

It is further particularly emphasized to the 
credit of these people of the church of Pergamos 
that they had not denied the Christian faith; in 
other words, that they were not ashamed of the 
Gospel of Christ. There was much in it by which 
they might have been tempted to be ashamed of 



TO THE CHURCH OF P ERG AMOS. 95 

it. Its Author was crucified as a malefactor and 
a slave. All the great and mighty of the earth 
despised it, and nobody of account paid any re- 
gard to it. Its professors were all poor, unlearned, 
and untitled people, held to be the dregs and off- 
scourings of the earth. Some of its chief doc- 
trines were considered absurd. Its principles were 
at war with the whole spirit of society as then 
constituted. It seemed to most to be nothing but 
a pestilential fanaticism which ought to be crushed 
out with the arm of power. It was a more unsa- 
vory thing to the elite of that day than Mormon- 
ism is now to the more respectable classes of our 
time. But still, they were not ashamed of it nor 
put out of countenance in holding to it and boldly 
professing it. And for this Christ commends 
them. 

And with all that was humiliating in the Gos- 
pel, there was much more in which to glory. 
With the humiliation there was the constant 
presence of the divine. If Christ was born in 
poverty, in a stable, without earthly friends or 
favors, the angels of heaven filled the sky with 
joyous proclamations and highest songs over His 
nativity, and the stars pointed out that a glorious 
King had made His advent into our world. Nev- 
er was there a march through human life so ra- 
diant from first to last with divine sublimity as 
His. Great Nature's powers were more at His 



96 



THE LET'JtRS O F JES US. 



command than Rome's legions at the command 
of Caesar. The seas whicli rolled not back when 
Canute spoke answered to His orders and laid 
down their boisterous waves in tranquil quiet at 
His feet. Demons which no human power could 
dislodge quitted their hold and ran howling from 
His presence at His rebuke. Lepers, blind, deaf, 
maimed, halt, paralytics, and sufferers from all 
manner of disease took health and wholeness and 
renewed life from the virtue that went out from 
Him at His touch or His word. He needed only 
to speak to the dead and they lived' again. 
Though yielding Himself at the last to be shame- 
fully crucified, all nature. shook in sympathy with 
His death: the earth quaked, the rocks rent, the 
graves opened, the dead were startled back to life, 
and witnessing men smote their breasts and hasted 
from the scene in terror as if the day of judgment 
had come. iVnd after He was dead and buried 
and sealed in the sepulchre, and a Roman guard 
set to watch His tomb, angels hovered inquiringly 
about the spot and friends and foes kept watchful 
eye upon it, and the universe waited in sabbatic 
pause while He lay in His grave; the time came 
when He started up again in resurrection power, 
bore away the gates of Hades, and He that was 
crucified came forth the everlasting Victor, the 
Prince of Life, the very Lord of glory! 

And as to the Gospel itself, prophets foretold it; 



TO THE CHURCH OF P ERG AMOS. 97 

the noblest poets of all time sung of its coming; 
the reigns of sublimest kings and the roll of spe- 
cial dispensations prefigured it; the holiest cere- 
monies from the foundation of the world typified 
it and pointed to it; the purest hearts and worth- 
iest lives that ever graced the earth derived their 
inspiration from it; it was in the mind and fore- 
ordination of God ere the world was, and in view 
through all His providential dealings since Adam 
went weeping from Paradise. Though weak and 
despised, it was the only rising cause then on the 
earth, the most profoundly seated in the wants of 
man, and inevitably destined to grow and triumph 
till the Baptist's cry on Jordan's banks should be 
heard from the lips of nations: " Behold the Lamb 
of God, that taketh away the sin of the world." 
And what apostles claimed these people had occa- 
sion by experience to know, that it is "the wis- 
dom of God and the power of God unto salvation 
to every one that believetli, to the Jew first, and 
also to the Greek." 

There was therefore no reason to be ashamed 
of it, or to quail from holding firmly to it, in 
view of anything this world could bring to in- 
duce these people to disown it. Hence they 
held fast Christ's name, and did not deny the 
faith even when some of them had to die for it. 

Antipas accepted death rather than give up or 
deny his Lord. Men might look upon him as a 



98 



THE LE TTERS OF JESUS. 



fool, a fanatic, a victim of delusion, a mad enthu- 
siast, to throw away his life for his faith. The 
question might be. Why not use more moderation 
in his attachment to his creed ? Why not yield a 
little and save himself from a martyr's death? 
But the name of Jesus was more precious to him 
than his life, and he preferred to be slain to a let- 
tino; ao of that name. 

And do you suppose, dear friends, that he now 
regrets his choice ? Can you think that he has 
been the loser for his faithfulness imto death ? 
And why, then, should any of us let our profession 
droop and drag for the poor satisfaction of a little 
conformity to this corrupt and erring world ? 

It will not do to speak of being unfavorably 
situated. That can never excuse i:s. Antipas 
w^as a true disciple even where Satan had liis 
throne. It will not do to say your business is so 
vexatious — your time so preoccupied — your friends 
so exacting of your attention — your duties so weari- 
some — your energies so tired out — your leisure so 
much needed for rest — your struggle for a liveli- 
hood so exhausting and severe — your acquaint- 
ances likely to think it strange for you to give at- 
tention to church and religion. God will not ex- 
cuse because our circumstances are peculiar or 
unfavorable. Our trials may call forth Christ's 
sympathy, but they cannot justify unfaithfulness. 

It is a great thing to have heard of Jesus and 



TO THE CHURCH OF F ERG AMOS. 



99 



to have learned His name, but it will be all the 
worse for us if we do not hold it fast. Whatever 
the trial, the word is, "If any man draw back, 
My soul shall have no pleasure in him." We 
have a Saviour and a great one, but we must hold 
fast His name and not deny His faith. 




Rev. 2 : 14-16 : " But I have a few things against thee, because thou 
hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balak 
to cast a stumbling-block before the children of Israel, to eat things 
sacrificed unto idols, and to commit fornication. So hast thou also 
them that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which thing I hate. 
Repent; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will fight against 
them with the sword of my mouth." 

ERGAMOS was a city that rose to metro- 
politan dignity more than three centuries 
before Christ. It was founded in treach- 
ery by the treasurer of one of Alexander's gene- 
rals, among whom his empire w^as divided after 
his death. This traitor carried thither great 
wealth and founded the dynasty of the rich 
Attalian kings, whose royal seat was Pergamos 
for nearly two hundred years. It was one of the 
wealthiest cities of its time, and famous for its 
magnificent library, which was second only to 
that of the Ptolemies in Alexandria. 

Pergamos was situated in the midst of a very 
fertile valley, whose great productiveness natural- 
ly tended to develop a ver}' sumptuous style of 
society. Its great wealth, luxury, and boasted 
learning, all arrayed on the side of a sensual 



TO THE CHURCH OF P ERG AMOS. lOI 



and corrupting heathenism, perhaps more than 
anything else gave it the bad pre-eminence of 
being Satan's throne and seat. The historical 
descriptions of the place and people represent it 
as "epicurean in its philosophy and a nest of all 
sorts of gilded sensualities and conventionalized 
vices." It was the most intolerant toward the 
Christian teachings and testimony of any heathen 
city of its time; for while Christians were every- 
where hated and despised, the first actual martyr- 
doms among the Gentiles seem to have occurred 
in Pergamos, where Antipas lost his life for his 
devotion to his faith. We know something of 
the style of life which characterized Pompeii; 
and Pergamos was even more corrupt. 

In a place and condition of society ■ in which 
Satan was pre-eminently enthroned it w^as hard 
for Christianity to get a firm footing, and those 
who embraced it were in great danger of becom- 
ing more or less infected and swayed by the gene- 
ral order of things with which they were in daily 
contact. Man is man, and he is very apt to take 
on much of the character of the society in which 
he lives, even against what he has been taught 
and has accepted as the right thing. Especially 
is this the case in a community of great wealth, 
polish, refinement, and celebrated for its cultiva- 
tion and learning. We know something of what 
weak and ambitious people will do and sacrifice 



102 



THE LETTERS OF JESUS. 



to get place and acknowledgment in what they 
call society — how prone many are to sycophancy 
and truckling to what they regard as the upper 
classes — how they will ape the ways and thinking 
of those who have a name for intelligence, taste, 
and high social importance. And it is not sur- 
prising that in a dominant pagan city like Perga- 
mos, with its many rich and ancient families, rec- 
ognized as a great university centre, and famed 
for the learning and culture of its population, 
many members of the Church should be seduced 
into damaging compromises with its sentiments, 
life, and fashions. So at least it turned out, as 
set forth in this Letter to the angel of the church 
at that place. 

Having mentioned what was to the credit and 
praise of this church, the Saviour proceeds to 
note what was of a different character: ^''Biit I 
have a few things against theey The statement 
is gently expressed, for Jesus is full of tenderness 
to His people even when erring and at fault, but 
the language is stronger than that used tow^ard 
the church at Bphesus. We are not to suppose 
our sins light because our Lord is tender. It is 
rather because the ailment is so serious that He 
approaches it so gently, as the object is to try to 
win the offenders back to proper life and spiritual 
faithfulness. He is not willing that any of His 
flock should perish, and the sicker the sheep He 



TO THE CHURCH OF PERGAMOS. 163 

would recover the gentler is His dealing to save 
it. And especially where there is so much to ap- 
prove and commend He uses every gentleness to 
heal what is wrong. But we dare not presume 
on that gentleness. 

The first thing of which the Saviour speaks to 
the angel of this church is: ''''Thou hast there them 
that hold the doctrine of Balaam^ who taught Ba- 
lak to cast a stumbling-block before the children 
of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols, and to 
commit fornication. ' ' The minister is not charged 
with being of this party, and yet he is blamed that 
such people were tolerated in the church of which 
he had the oversight. He had not witnessed and 
striven against these errorists and corrupters as he 
should. He suffered them to remain in the church, 
notwithstanding their odious and unchristian sen- 
timents. People of a bad life and a corrupted 
faith have no business in the Church, and those 
who have the oversight are to see to it that they 
reform from their ill ways or are thrown out from 
all church-fellowship and recognition. It may be 
a very unpleasant thing to do, but not to do it is 
to give countenance to sin and to connive at iniq- 
uity. Being grieved at it is not enough; there 
must be action — admonition first, and then, if 
there be no amendment, expulsion and excom- 
munication. But the angel of this church, 
though pure and orthodox himself, was too leni- 



104 



THE LETTERS OE JESUS. 



etit ill his censures and dealings with certain 
members of his flock, and the Saviour makes it 
a matter of rebuke to him that he had there them 
that held to the doctrine of Balaam. 

We are not to suppose that there were any who 
professed to be the followers of Balaam. Old er- 
rors revived generally try to get currency under 
new names. The people referred to called them- 
selves Christians, and claimed to be very enlight- 
ened, liberal, and proper Christians. But they 
were really Balaamites. The principles which 
they entertained, taught, and put in practice as 
their idea of Christianity had in them the nature 
and essence of that sort of thing of which Balaam 
was the originator and exemplification. (See the 
accounts given in the twenty-second, twenty- third, 
twenty-fourth, and twenty-fifth chapters of the 
book of Numbers.) 

Balaam was a prophet of God, and really spoke 
the word and truth of God. That point is not to 
be questioned. But he turned out to be a very 
bad man and came to a very sorry end. Prophecy 
is a gift and not a grace. There have been many 
instances in which God made revelations through 
instruments not at all partakers of His saving 
grace. Jesus tells of some wdio shall come up 
before Him in the judgment and say, "Lord, 
have we not prophesied in Thy name, and in Thy 
name done many wonderful works?'' to whom He 



ro THE CHURCH OF PERGAMOS. 10$ 

will answer, "Depart from Me, ye that work in- 
iquity; for I never knew you." Balaam certainly 
did utter divine oracles, and claimed to hold him- 
self bound faithfully to give what God said. He 
also had great fame as a sacred prophet. Hence 
King Balak sought his aid to put the curse of God 
upon the children of Israel and to prophesy evil 
upon them. It was a base desire, and Balaam was 
only too eager to serve him in his wickedness. 

Balaam first tried legitimate ways, without 
avail, to obtain a divine expression adverse to 
Israel; but what he could not get by means of 
divine oracles he planned to accomplish by treach- 
ery, deceit, and the guiles of unprincipled women. 
If God's people could be seduced into apostasy 
and uncleanness, then God would be against them 
and Balak' s wishes would be gratified; and this 
was now the devilish policy which he advised. 

What moved Balaam in all this business was 
his eager desire to possess the honors and rewards 
which Balak held out to him. He "loved the 
wages of unrighteousness." With God's word in 
his mouth the devil's covetousness was in his 
heart. Balak approached him with presents, and 
offered him riches and honor. He proposed to 
take the prophet into his royal favor, enrich him 
with gold, and exalt him to the next highest place 
in the kingdom. And with these proposals the 
heart of Balaam was dazzled. He could not turn 



io6 



THE LETTERS OF JESUS. 



his back on such a splendid chance for wealth, 
standing, and worldly glory. He did not mean 
to let go his profession as a prophet. No; if Ba- 
lak should give him his house full of gold he must 
keep strictly to the word God should put in his 
mouth. But if he could secure the proffered 
emolument without violatins^ his conscience or 
compromising his principles, why not do it ? 
And thus inflamed by his cupidity for Balak's 
treasures and favors, he made the effort and went 
on trying one thing and another until we find him 
at last advising the king to use the blandishments 
of women and lewdness to seduce the men of Is- 
rael and to beguile them to participation in the 
feasts and orgies of pagan w^orship. 

This w^as Balaamism, and just w^hat was repro- 
duced in some of the members of this church at 
Pergamos. Though holding to Christianity, and 
in no way intending to renounce their profession 
and standing as members of the church, they 
would vet not be so bio^oted as to wronof them- 

o o 

selves out of much good fortune by refusing to 
concede anything to paganism. Why not be 
friends of these high people, yield a little here 
and there, and profit in temporal estate wuth- 
out letting- gfo their Christianitv ? Thev would 
not be cynics. They could see no harm in ac- 
cepting invitations to the entertainments of their 
heathen neighbors, in partaking of food and ban- 



TO THE CHURCH OF PERGAMOS. 10/ 

quels on which the name of some heathen god 
was called, in visiting the pagan temples and 
shows on great occasions, in indulging themselves 
a little according to the customs of the commu- 
nity. This would please the heathen and secure 
their favor. What was a heathen god, at any 
rate ? It was a nothing, a fiction — a thing which 
could neither help nor harm. Did they not know 
this full well ? What fear that they should be- 
come infatuated worshippers of such nonentities ? 
Could they not eat of idol meats and drink of 
idol drinks and sit at idol feasts and enter idol 
temples and be reverent at idol ceremonies, and 
enjoy some of the pleasures of idol frolics, with- 
out ever once lending their hearts to what they 
knew to be nothing but a fraud and a lie? What 
need was there for such rigid and bigoted scrupu- 
losity when there was not the least danger of 
their ever turning heathen ? And so they began 
to amalgamate with the rank and unchaste pa- 
ganism which held dominion around them, and 
claimed it as their Christian liberty so to do. 

Satan had tried them with violence and perse- 
cution, but, failing by that method, he plied them 
with social seductions, flattering them with world- 
ly friendships, good standing with their heathen 
neighbors, credit for liberality, easy wealth, and 
gratifying pleasures. And with these lures they 
were drawn and enticed until it came to be a mat- 



io8 



THE LETTERS OF JESUS. 



ter of doctrine and principle with them to make 
common canse with idolatry, holding it to be of 
no account one way or another, and maintaining 
that a Christian could still be a Christian even in 
heathen temples and while participating in heathen 
feasts. This was their Balaam ism — their spiritual 
harlotry — which did so much mischief in the early 
Gentile churches. 

The same is elsewhere spoken of Peter speaks 
of some walkino; after the flesh in the lust of un- 
cleanness, despising the dominion that would re- 
strain them, presumptuous, self-willed, not afraid 
to speak evil of dignities and of things they did 
not understand, counting it pleasure to parade 
their scandals as those who riot in the daytime, 
sporting themselves with their own deceivings 
while claiming to take part in the feasts and 
sacraments of the Church, having eyes full of 
adultery, beguiling unstable souls, and having 
their hearts full of covetous practices after the 
manner of Balaam. He calls them wells without 
w^ater, clouds carried by the wind, bombastic 
talkers, through lusts of the flesh and wanton- 
ness alluring good people into their abominations, 
promising them liberty while themselves the 
bond-slaves of corruption. Jude speaks of these 
same people as giving themselves over to the un- 
cleanness of the heathen, filthy dreamers, railing 
at all spiritual authorit}', running greedily after 



TO THE CHURCH OF PER G AMOS. IO9 

the error of Balaam for reward, spots and scandals 
in the Christian feasts, trees twice dead, raging 
waves of the sea foaming out their own shame, 
wandering stars to whom is reserved the black- 
ness of darkness for ever. 

Nor is there another class of people against 
whom the Scriptures fulmine such terrible wrath 
and condemnation as those professed Christians 
who for worldly gain, pleasure, and carnal indul- 
gence held it to be their right and privilege to 
join with the heathen and to do as they pleased 
on all these social questions. It was the particu- 
lar fault and abomination of the times, which 
perverted, ruined, and destroyed more souls than 
all the persecutions of the pagan government. 
Nay, it is one of the particular ailments of the 
Church in all time, and especially again in our 
time, that many of its members, for their own 
ease, pleasure, and gain, claim it to be their right 
and liberty to join in the ways, habits, amuse- 
ments, and society of the corrupt and idolatrous 
world while yet claiming to be very correct and 
orthodox Christians, if not Christians of a supe- 
rior sort, quite freed from the bigoted and illiberal 
spirit of those who count such things an abomi- 
nation. This joining of the worship of God with 
the worship of Mammon, this amalgamation of 
the children of God with the children of the 
devil, this bringing together of the table of the 



I lO 



THE LETTERS OF JESUS. 



lyord and the tables of demons, this holding to 
Jehovah and yet pleading for liberty to bow down 
in the temple of Rimmon, this gilding over of 
the service of greed, vanity, ambition, selfishness, 
carnal appetite, and sensual pleasure by a heart- 
less and skin-deep profession, — what is it but this 
selfsame detested Balaamism which leads to de- 
struction, plague, and eternal death ? 

It was the bane and curse of the church of Per- 
gamos that with all its faithfulness to the name 
and faith of Christ it had such people in it, and 
that they were allowed to remain in it without 
discipline and excommunication. And it is the 
bane and curse of the Church of our day to a still 
greater extent. I doubt if man has ever seen so 
many silver bridges between the Church and the 
world as modern Christianity has arranged and 
sanctioned to the weakening of itself and the 
ruin of souls. And few indeed are the professed 
Christians of our times who are not more or less 
tainted and swayed by the abominable "doctrine 
of Balaam, who taught Balak to cast a stumbling- 
block before the children of Israel, to eat things 
sacrificed to idols and to commit fornication." 

And yet another detestable thing did the Sa- 
viour point out in this church at Pergamos: ''^So 
hast thoii also them that hold the doctrine of the 
Nicolaitans^ which thing I hate^ 

In the church of Bphesus there is reference to 



TO THE CHURCH Of PE KG AM OS. 1 1 I 

' ' the deeds of the Nicolaitans, ' ' which the nieinbers 
of that church hated and would not at all coun- 
tenance. But what were only deeds and practices 
in Kphesus had grown to doctrines and principles 
in Pergamos, and what the angel of the church 
at Bphesus could not tolerate, the angel of the 
church at Pergamos allowed to have place and to 
put itself forth in teaching and dogma. 

Our information concerning these Nicolaitans 
is not very complete, but the early Christian 
writers speak of them as a sect of the Gnostics, 
who held that the body is a corrupt thing des- 
tined to perish, and that it did not matter about 
what was done with it in the short time that it 
has to live. Hence they gave themselves free 
license in all sorts of corporeal impurities. Adul- 
tery, fornication, and every sort of fleshly indul- 
gence they made no sin of, claiming that the 
death of the body would set the soul free from 
all condemnation. Not only plurality of wives, 
but community of wives, was part of their sys- 
tem. Bating things offered to idols and joining 
in pagan feasts and orgies were nothing wrong in 
their eyes. Nor did they hesitate to introduce 
heathen rites into Christian worship. In some 
of their characteristics they quite accorded with 
the Balaamites, but in others they were still 
more besotted and impure. 

And to give some sort of dignity to their abomi- 



112 



THE LETTERS OE JESUS. 



nations these people claimed to have derived their 
practices and doctrines from the good deacon Nico- 
las, and so called themselves Nicolaitans, to the 
great scandal of a very worthy name. Their 
doings and principles were such that Christ de- 
clares He hated them. 

Well also would it be for modern Christendom 
if it were less infected with this same spirit. But 
when we observe how lightly many regard the sa- 
credness of marriage, the readiness with which its 
ties are dissolved, and the unconcealed libertinism 
and uncleannesses which even professed Christian 
people wink at and pass as trifling foibles, w^e are 
forced to the conclusion that the Nicolaitans 
have not yet died out. 

Though men may connive at such things, the 
great Lord and Judge does not. If the pastors of 
the Church tolerate them without protest, and do 
not bring their authority to bear against the abet- 
tors of such unclean amalgamations, Jesus holds 
them responsible, and demands repentance and 
earnest purging out of the corrupting leaven on 
pain of His wrath. Such Balaamites and Nicolai- 
tans must change their minds and return to a 
more consistent and thorough Christianity, or the 
sharp sword of double edge is drawn against them 
and they can only perish under it. 

Dear friends, it is not possible to serve two 
masters. If we would hold fast the name and 



TO THE CHURCH OF PERGAMOS. II3 

faith of Christ, we must let go the world and the 
following of its evil ways and uncleannesses, and 
abhor the very garment spotted by the flesh. 
''What fellowship hath righteousness with un- 
righteousness? and what communion hath light 
with darkness? What concord hath Christ with 
Belial ? or what part hath he that believeth with 
an infidel ? and what agreement hath the temple 
of God with idols?" " Ye cannot serve God and 
Mammon." One thing or the other we must be; 
and if not consistent, true, and faithful Christians, 
we are of the world and must perish with it. 
' ' Wherefore, ' ' the word is, ' ' come out from 
among them, and be ye separate, saith the 
Ivord, and touch not the unclean thing." 

8 



Rev. 2: 17: "He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit 
saith unto the churches : To him that overcometh will I give to eat of 
the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone 
a new name written, which no man knoweth, saving he that receiveth 
it." 



HAT Christ hates Christians must hate, or 



they incur the displeasure of their Lord. 



The angel of the church of Ephesus hated 
the deeds of the Nicolaitans, and was commended 
for it; the angel of the church of Pergamos was 
indifferent and tolerant toward these errorists, and 
he is censured for it, and required to repent of his 
faulty leniency or meet divine judgment on ac- 
count of it. 

It is sometimes thought that ministers are not 
to be fighting men, and that controversy is a great 
evil in the Church; but Christ here presents Him- 
self as a fighter against evil and against the abet- 
tors of evil, and requires of His servants to do the 
same or accept blame and condemnation. Con- 
troversy, instead of being the bane of the Church, 
has many a time been its only salvation. What 
would have become of it in the time of Athana- 




114 



TO THE CHURCH OF PERGAMOS. II5 

sius, or the time of Luther, had it not been for 
the tremendous controversy in those instances? 
To let things drift along as they will for the sake 
of avoiding sharp conflicts and disturbing col- 
lisions is to let the devil do as he pleases and to 
give over the precious things of God to disaster 
and ruin. The angel of the church at Pergamos 
acted on this principle, suppressed his indignation 
at the errorists who were ruining his church, and 
failed to withstand them that held the doctrine of 
Balaam and the doctrine of the Nicolaitans; and 
the Saviour faults him for it, and demands of him 
immediate repentance, on pain of coming against 
him with the sword of judgment. To refuse bat- 
tle with errorists is to accept battle with God, and 
we can be at no loss to know what the issue must 
be. And the repentance required of the pastor at 
Pergamos implied that he was to make war upon 
these Balaamites and Nicolaitans, witness and tes- 
tify with unflinching energy against their ruinous 
aberrations, recover them to truth and faithfulness 
if he could, otherwise to exclude them totally 
from the communion of the Church. Nor was 
there any other salvation in the case, either for 
that preacher or that congregation. 

Balaam's aberrations brought him death by the 
sword of God's indignation. He perished with 
the king whose wickedness he was so ready to 
serve for a price, and with those who had become 



Il6 THE LETTERS OE JESUS. 

corrupted with his devices. The record says: 
"Balaam also, the son Beor, they slew with 
the sword" (Num. -4^-;-^^. And so the threat 
here was that unless thorough amendment took 
place without delay, Christ would come quickly, 
and in like manner fight against these new Ba- 
laamites and Nicolaitans with the sword of His 
mouth. 

And the execution of this threat would have 
touched not only those corrupt ones on whose 
account it was made. Such a judgment on the 
church would have affected the whole body. The 
sins and failings of unfaithful members implicate 
the whole Church. Judgments come by reason 
of the wicked only, but when they come the good 
have to suffer with the bad. As things are in this 
world, the gold and the dross are cast alike into 
the fire, though only the dross is to be consumed. 
When there is blessing on account of the good, 
the wicked share it; and when there is judgment 
for the wicked, the good and pious are made to 
feel it with the rest. Nor is it right that we 
should escape the tribulation if we have not hon- 
estly done what we could to remove the causes 
which have procured it. Communities are dealt 
with as communities, and churches as churches; 
and what happens to the body as such all the 
members together must share. 

But while God thus judges churches and peo- 



TO THE CHURCH OF FERGAMOS. WJ 

pies in this world, this is not the final award to 
the individual members in it. The Church or 
State may fall and perish, but it does not follow 
that individuals belonging to it can have no bet- 
ter destiny. A Church may apostatize and come 
imder the curse of God, and yet there may be in 
the midst of it some suffering individuals in no 
way responsible for the trouble, who stemmed the 
tide of evil as best they could, and held fast to 
the right in spite of it, faithful found among the 
faithless, to whom a better portion is reserved. 

The individuality is still not sunk and lost in 
the community. There is another and further 
administration which dispenses to each one sepa- 
rately according to his works. And along with 
each of these addresses to the churches there is 
exhortation to individual members, and promise 
to each separate soul that overcometh, no matter 
what befalls the church as such. There have 
been saints under the worst apostasies and in the 
most evil times — jewels amid ashes, flowers amid 
deserts of barrenness. In the darkest days of the 
Roman Inquisition a martyr to his uncorrupted 
faith wrote on the wall of his dungeon: " Blessed 
Jesus, they may separate me from Thy Church, 
but they cannot separate me from Thee!" and 
many not written in the martyrologies of man 
are yet inscribed and canonized in the calendar 
of God because of their faith and faithfulness 



Ii8 



THE LETTERS OE JESVS. 



in the midst of the avalanches of apostasy and 
reigning sin. 

The Gospel addresses itself to individuals: "//^ 
that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit 
saith unto the churches." Except as individuals 
hear and believe there can be no faith, no salva- 
tion. And hence also the promise is to each one 
separately : ' ' To him that overcometh will I give 
to eat of the hidden manna, and I will give him 
a white stone, and in the stone a new name writ- 
ten, which no man knoweth saving he that re- 
ceiveth it." 

In each of these seven Letters the Saviour re- 
curs to the description which contemplates Chris- 
tians as conquerors, overcomers, persons who hold 
out in their faith and faithfulness to final victory. 
The figure implies conflict, hardship, adversity, 
antagonism, difficulty. A true Christian is a 
wrestler, a soldier, a combatant, who puts forth 
his energies to conquer, and who does conquer — 
if not at once, yet surely in the end. The whole 
current and spirit of things in this world, both 
within us and without, is contrary to faith and to 
a life of faith. The influences are strong to keep 
people from accepting and confessing Christ, and 
they are equally strong to pervert, corrupt, and 
hinder even after having taken hold of Christian 
life. The heart is deceitful, the world is seduc- 
tive, and the devil is watchful and cunning; and 



TO THE CHURCH OF PERGAMOS. I I9 

all sorts of trials come by which honest souls are 
likely to be deluded, tripped up, diverted from the 
truth, betrayed into sin, and rendered untrue to 
their profession. And such is the situation in this 
world that we must conquer these evil influences 
or they will conqtier us; and only he who does 
thus conquer is a true Christian. 

In the case of these people of the church at 
Pergamos the more particular evils against which 
they had to struggle were the seductive influences 
of a rich, cultured, luxurious, and sensual heathen- 
ism, in which Satan had enthroned himself — com- 
promises of Christian fidelity for worldly favor, 
patronage, gain, and pleasure; affiliations with 
the heathen in their feasts, banquets, and cere- 
monies; aping after the styles, fashions, and man- 
ners which prevailed in that corrupt and rotten 
community, and the justification of such abomi- 
nations on the grounds of Christian liberty and 
right. It was no easy thing for those well-to-do 
to keep clear of these subtle and treacherous con- 
taminations. Many prominent members made 
nothing of them, and still claimed to be as good 
Christians in their worldly conformities as any 
others. The minister was easy and reticent. 
The lures without were strong and attractive, 
and the example set by those of prominence in the 
church favored this amalgamation of heathenism 
with Christianity and of Christianity with heath- 



120 



THE LETTERS OF JESUS. 



eiiisiii; and it required great moral courage, devo- 
tion, and uncompromising determination to stand 
out unflinchingly for the pure Gospel and a pure 
Christian life. It necessarih- involved many an 
unpleasant collision and many a hard contest, 
both within and without, for tkose who would be 
Christians in deed, and not only in name, to be 
successful. Many a sore, trying, and disabling 
wound would necessarily be incurred, and noth- 
ing but hard fighting could give them the victory. 
But the Saviour was with them in their struggle 
to help them with His sympathies, word, and 
promises, and addressed a special promise to 
every one who should remain faithful and over- 
come in this heavy conflict. 

There are several items in this promise. The 
first was, ' ' To him that overconieth will I give to 
eat of the hidden manna. ' ' The temptation which 
specially beset these Christians of Pergamos was, 
for earthly advantage, to partake of idol meats 
and heathen feasts, and so the promise is that if 
they would abstain from such improprieties, and 
hold themselves clean and separate from such con- 
taminating feeding and carnal compromises, Christ 
would supply them with a far more precious bread. 
Rejecting the world's dainties for Christ and His 
pure service, He would give them "to eat of the 
hidden manna." 

We know something of the miraculous food 



TO THE CHURCH OF PERGAMOS. 121 

with which God nourished and sustained His 
ancient people during their long and weary years 
of wandering in the waste and barren wilderness, 
and which the people called jnanna, "What is 
it?" for they did not know what it was. But it 
was a heavenly bread specially provided of God, 
which fell in little white flakes every morning for 
the day's supply, except on the Sabbath, to carry 
them through which a double portion fell on the 
morning preceding. And thus were the people 
fed during all their long pilgrimage until they 
came to eat of the fruits of the Promised Land. 

That miraculous bread was the type of another 
and better bread for the feeding of souls and their 
nourishment unto eternal life. So the Saviour 
Himself has explained this in John 6, where He 
speaks of Himself as the true manna given of 
the Father from heaven : ' ' The bread of God is 
He which cometh down from heaven, and giveth 
life unto the world. ... I am the living bread 
which came down from heaven: if any man eat 
of this bread, he shall live for ever; and the bread 
that I will give is My flesh, which I will give for 
the life of the world. . . . He that eateth of this 
bread shall live for ever." This, then, is the true 
manna and food of souls in their pilgrimage to 
the better country, as the manna of the wilder- 
ness was the food for the bodies of the pilgrim 
tribes. This bread is given us in the Gospel to 



122 



THE LETTERS OE JESUS. 



be received and fed on by faith in Christ as our 
salvation, and still more literally in the Holy 
Supper, By faith in the one, and by the same 
faith eating and drinking in the other, we are 
quickened and nourished unto life everlasting; 
and these Pergamites, as all Christians, by hold- 
ing truly to the name and faith of Christ, were 
to have of this living manna for their perpetual 
nourishment and comfort as the help and attend- 
ant of their victory. 

But this does not seem at all to exhaust the 
promise or to compass its more special meaning. 
When the tabernacle was built, command was 
given to take of the daily manna, put it into a 
golden pot, and lay it up before the Ivord in the 
ark of the covenant in the Holy of Holies. Into 
that sacred place, the picture of the divine resi- 
dence in heaven, no one but the high priest, and 
he only with great fear and trembling, dared to 
enter. A veil hung between it and the outer 
sanctuary which none but he could pass, and be- 
yond which none but he could look. It was a 
hidden chamber in which there was a still more 
inviolable concealment of what was placed in the 
ark of the covenant. And the specimen of manna 
there preserved was the most intensely hidden. It 
was first of all closed in the golden pot, and the 
pot enclosed in the ark, and the ark enclosed in 
the unapproachable Holy of Holies. It was pre- 



TO THE CHURCH OF PERGAMOS. 1 23 

eminently the hidden ^nannay And to this the 
reference here doubtless is. 

This omer full of manna, thus laid up before 
the Ivord and hidden from the view of men, was 
no longer corruptible, like that which fell daily 
around the camp, and which changed to putrefac- 
tion if kept over a day other than the Sabbath. 
It continued pure in its golden pot for genera- 
tions. But if the manna which the people ate 
referred to the flesh of Christ given for the life 
of the world, this specimen of it, rendered incor- 
ruptible and laid up in the presence and dwelling- 
place of God, must needs refer to the same, but 
now in that condition of immortality and incor- 
ruption in which He ascended to the right hand 
of the Father. 

We thus reach the sacred teaching that the 
heavenly food of true believers exists in two 
forms, though really of one and the same sub- 
stance: the corruptible form in which it was 
given to death for the world's life, and the in- 
corruptible form in which it now has place before 
God in heaven — the one of which we partake and 
on which we live in this our mortal pilgrimage, 
and the other hidden in heavenly glory where we 
can never see or approach it until this mortal puts 
on immortality and comes in true priestly charac- 
ter within the veil and enters whither the Fore- 
runner is for us entered. 



124 



THE LETTERS OF JESUS. 



It is also ven- plain that the promise here, like 
the promises in the other of these Letters, refers 
to some benefit and favor pertaining to the future 
kingdom of glory, when this present life is over, 
rather than to something possessed and enjoyed in 
the present kingdom of grace. The Saviour does 
not say that He Jias given to Christian victors to 
eat of the hidden manna, but that He will do it 
in the future, which can only be when the war- 
fare is ended and the victory is complete beyond 
any further peradventure. Every feature and im- 
plication of the case thus carries over to the im- 
mortal and heavenly state, when corruption has 
been swallowed up of life, for this hidden manna 
and for the eating of it which the overcomer is to 
have. Christ in glorified humanity is now hidden 
there. Flesh and blood cannot enter into that 
holy place, or eye of mortal look upon that golden 
pot of incorruptible bread which has thus been 
laid up in heaven. And the sweep of this glorious 
promise to the victorious Christian soldier looks 
to the life to come — to the immortal state — to ad- 
mission into the veiled place of the divine resi- 
dence — to likeness, fellowship, and beatific vision 
of the Redeemer in His heavenly glory — and to 
the impartation of His own glorious self to us as 
our immortal meat and drink and life and e\'er- 
lasting joy. Elsewhere in the x\pocalypse we 
read that "the temple of God was opened in 



TO THE CHURCH OF PERGAMOS. 12$ 

heaven, and there was seen in His temple the 
ark of His testament" (Rev. 11:19), and that 
after the seven last plagues are fulfilled men were 
able to enter into the temple, and so come to the 
hidden manna, then no longer hid from them, 
and, seeing it, to eat of it, and partake of its 
sublime incorruptibleness. And in this view it 
is questionable whether there is anywhere a 
sweeter and more precious personal promise than 
that which the Saviour here gives to the Chris- 
tian victor. 

But this is still not all. It is further added: 
^^And I ivill give him a white stone ^ and in the 
stone a new 7iame written^ which no man kitoweth 
saving he that receiveth it. ' ' 

The blackballing the faithful one receives from 
the society of earth is to result in a happy election 
to the society in heaven. Having won in the con- 
flict, there is given him the mark of honorable 
distinction — a token of free access to all the joys 
of the kingdom. So many interpretations of this 
promise run. But this does not seem to reach the 
special nature or the full meaning of the promise. 
The ' ' white stone ' ' is not a pebble used or cast 
by another, but a luminous and glittering jewel 
given into the victor's own possession, and in 
itself a sublime treasure to him. Entering into 
the holiest of all, he enters as an accepted priest, 
and he gets the most lustrous and precious sacred 



126 



THE LETTERS OF JESUS. 



jewel of the priest. We can think 'of nothing but 
a diamond in the case — the Urim given to the 
high priest to be borne by him as a most sacred 
jewel, into which he looked with holiest rever- 
ence to see and read the responses and revela- 
tions of the Lord Almighty, and through which 
his soul came into communion with the mind of 
that Jehovah whose name was engraved upon it. 
Urim means lights^ the lights and illuminations 
from Jehovah. And such a crystal gem of light, 
at once the token and the medium of the holiest 
communion with the Giver of it, the Christian 
overcomer is to receive. 

And on this luminous gem there is to be a new 
name engraved — not the victor's name, but the 
Giver's name; and the newness of the name re- 
fers to some newness of character and of glory in 
Christ to be made known to and realized and en- 
joyed by the receiver of this gem which none but 
he can ever understand. 

The immortal priest thus comes to partake of 
the immortal Christ as his life and food and joy, 
and receives the gem of immortal privilege, of 
divine ilhimination, and of insight into the mys- 
teries and glories of Christ, which belong only to 
him that overcometh in the Christian conflict. 
As Phinehas was rewarded and honored with "an 
everlasting priesthood " for his zeal in vanquish- 
ing those sins to which the Old-Testament Balaam 



rO THE CHURCH OF PERGAMOS. 12/ 

seduced Israel, so he who is zealous against, and 
effectually resists, the temptations and the sins of 
the New-Testament Balaamites is to be rewarded 
with the heavenly priesthood. The Ephesian 
overcomer is to eat of the tree of life which is 
in the midst of the paradise of God; and the Per- 
gamite overcomer is to eat of the hidden manna, 
and possess the gem of heavenly lights and com- 
munings with the mind and character of Christ 
as His everlasting priest, with the freedom of all 
the mysteries of the Holy of Holies. 

Dear friends, it doth not yet appear what we 
shall be. The light is too bright and dazzling 
for us to look into it or to penetrate its transcend- 
ent wonders. But it is the privilege of all to be 
the sons of God, sure of this, that when He shall 
appear we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him 
as He is. Meanwhile we have these earthly de- 
pravities, temptations, and lies to fight and over- 
come. We are soldiers, and the hardships of the 
long campaign and the weight of many a heavy 
battle are upon us. Often we may be sore op- 
pressed. But our help is strong, our Captain is 
mighty, and the rewards of victory are worth ten 
thousand-fold more than all it costs. It is our 
business as our wisdom to fight on bravely, faint 
yet pursuing. 

These Epistles are voices from the better land, 
full of melody and high promise to inspire us with 



128 



THE LETTERS OE JESUS. 



energy and quicken our zeal. They come to us 
from Him who has been through the fight, and 
would bring us through to share with Him in the 
eternal triumph. And as we thus listen to the 
glorious things which the Spirit saith unto the 
Church, let us bind them as precious treasures on 
our hearts and hold on firmly to the name and 
faith of Jesus, knowing Who it is that has said, 
' ' To him that overcometh will I give to eat of 
the hidden manna, and I will give him a white 
stone, and in the stone a new name written, which 
no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it. ' ' 



Hecture (5ig1)tib- 



Rev. 2: i8, 19: "And unto the angel of the church in Thyatira 
write : These things saith the Son of God, who hath his eyes like unto 
a flame of fire, and his feet are like fine brass : I know thy works, and 
charity, and service, and faith, and thy patience, and thy works ; and 
tlie last to be more than the first." 

HE particular part of these Letters of Jesus 
which uow comes before us is that ad- 
dressed to the church at Thyatira, of 
which the text contains the first section. Let 
us consider it with due attention. 

You will remember that Thyatira was the place 
from which Lydia came of whom we read as the 
first disciple converted to the Lord on European 
soil. Paul found her with other women at the 
place of prayer by the river-side at Philippi, and 
spoke to them of Jesus; and the Lord opened her 
heart to attend to the things which he spoke. 
Whereupon she was baptized as a Christian, and 
afterward entertained Paul and Silas at her house. 
She was in Philippi selling purple goods for which 
Thyatira was famed. It may be that her perma- 
nent home was at Thyatira, and that on returning 
from Macedonia she may have been the first mem- 

9 129 




130 THE LETTERS OF JESUS. 

ber of the church at Thyatira, as she had been of 
the church at Philippi. At any rate, there was a 
church at Thyatira in the latter days of the aged 
apostle John, and I/ydia may have been among 
its members. 

In the text we find two things to be noted; 

I. What Christ says of Himself; 
II. What He says in commendation of this chitrch. 

It is a great matter to know what to think of 
Christ and what estimate of Him to keep before 
our minds. To think wrongly of Him and of 
His character, offices, and powers is to mistake in 
the most vital- point of faith. No one can be 
right without thinking rightly of Christ. Hence 
He is so particular to describe Himself in these 
several addresses. To the church of Bphesus He 
presented Himself as ' ' He that holdeth the seven 
stars [ministers of the churches] in His right 
hand," and "who walketh in the midst of the 
seven golden candlesticks, ' ' which are the churches. 
To the church of Smyrna He presented Himself 
as "the First and the Last, which was dead, and 
is alive." To the church at Pergamos He pre- 
sented Himself as "He which hath the sharp 
sword with two edges. ' ' And here He presents 
Himself as "the Son of God, who hath His eyes 
like unto a flame of fire and His feet like fine 
brass." The meaning is, that all He thus says 



rO THE CHURCH OF THYAriRA. I3I 

of Himself to the several churches is everywhere 
and always true of Him, while tlie particular de- 
scription in each specific case has special applica- 
tion to the state of things in the church addressed. 

In this church of Thyatira there were some 
very wrong but very queenly assumptions which 
needed special rebuke and humiliation; and so 
the Saviour presents Himself here in His divine 
royalty as ' ' the Son of God, ' ' He would have 
all such pretenders and usurpers know and re- 
member that He who speaks has the supreme 
authority and is the very Son of God Himself 

To the Jewish mind this designation meant par- 
ticipation in the divine nature and prerogatives, 
and presented a claim to be "equal with God." 
And so Christ here claims to be " the only-begot- 
ten Son of God," who came forth from the Father 
and is one with the Father. It was because of 
this claim that the Jews insisted on having Him 
crucified, holding that it was blasphemy in a man 
to make himself equal with God. But He still 
makes the same claim, and announces Himself 
from heaven as truly the Son of God. We there- 
fore mistake our Lord if we fail to consider Him 
as God, very God of very God, and hence having 
supreme authority over His Church, from whose 
judgment there is no appeal, and against whose 
power no opposition can stand. No king's daugh- 
ters and no authority or power of man can hold 



132 



THE LETTERS OE JESUS. 



against the Son of God. His is no arm of flesh 
that the wicked may break it or that His people 
may trust in it in vain. He is true Lord and 
God, for He proclaims Himself the Son of 
God:' 

Many think that the reference is to the second 
Psalm, where we find the decree of the eternal 
Father, saying unto the Son, ' ' Thou art My Son, 
this day have I begotten Thee. Ask of Me, and 
I shall give Thee the heathen for Thine inherit- 
ance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for Thy 
possession. Thou shalt break them with a rod 
of iron, Thou shalt dash them in pieces like a 
potter's vessel." The heathen may rage, and the 
people imagine a vain thing; the kings of the 
earth may set themselves, and the rulers take 
counsel together; but God hath set His King on 
the holy hill of His Zion, and to Him must all 
reverence be rendered, or we can only perish by 
the way. Men must hail Jesus as the almighty 
and everlasting Son of the Father or there is no 
hope for them. At His word the earth trembles; 
if He but touch the hills, they smoke; and when 
He shall lift the veil of dark clouds which now 
encompass Him, His enemies shall reel and stag- 
ger, and be swept away like stubble before the 
fire. 

And with this presentation agree also the other 
particulars: hath His eyes like unto a fimne 



TO THE CHURCH OF THYATIRA. 1 33 

of firey There is nothing more piercing than 
flaming fire. Everything yields and melts before 
it. It penetrates all things, consumes every oppo- 
sition, sweeps down all obstructions, and presses 
its way with invincible power. And of this sort 
are the eyes of Jesus. They look through every- 
thing; they pierce through all masks and cover- 
ings; they search the remotest recesses; they be- 
hold the most hidden things of the soul; and there 
is no escape from them. As the Son of God He 
is omniscient as well as almighty. As Hagar in 
her grief exclaimed, "Thou God seest me," so 
the Son of God sees everything that is going on 
in His Church, and sees every one of us. 

This is at once a very comforting and yet a very 
solemn truth. As far as we are honest, true- 
hearted, dutiful, and trying to be the disciples 
-of Jesus, it is a glad thing to know that Jesus 
sees us and can read our thoughts and knows our 
hearts, and will do us justice. But when we think 
of our faults and failures and the many things 
which are not to our credit, it is a most impress- 
ive reflection that it is all " naked and open to the 
eyes of Him with whom we have to do." How 
solemn to think that the all-penetrating eye of the 
Son of God is upon each one of us now — in close 
contact with every heart here present — seeing just 
how we feel, with what ideas we came to this ser- 
vice, and how we are receiving these great truths! 



134 



THE LETTERS OF JESUS. 



We Speak sometimes of secret thoughts, hidden 
feelings, things which lie buried in our souls from 
all human knowledge but our own. But there is 
no such thing in relation to Christ. He sees all 
and knows all. From Him there is nothing se- 
cret, nothing hid. 

Many are not what they seem to be. What 
God made to express and show the soul is often 
trained to conceal it and to make an outward ap- 
pearance of what has no reality within. The se- 
rene brow, the bright and candid look, the firm 
step, and the open countenance, meant to speak 
the innocence, truth, and moral dignity of the 
soul, are often imitated and feigned to hide from 
others the dastard spirit which reigns within. 
People often make a show of goodness and de- 
votion, sometimes by self-deception, sometimes 
with deliberate intent, in order to gain favors or 
promote their own selfish ends. They use the 
refinements of life or the garb of piety to hide 
what God condemns and wishes to extirpate. 
Modern society is full of this elegant hypocrisy, 
and the people of the Church are not always free 
from it. It is one of the arts of our day to cover 
guilt with smiles, iniquity with fair-sounding 
words, and bad morals with attractive and fasci- 
nating manners. But Christ's piercing eye flames 
through all such falsities and deceits. People 
may impose upon each other and hide their real 



TO THE CHURCH OF THYATIRA. 13^ 

hearts from the gaze of man, but they cannot im- 
pose on Christ. He sees beneath all masks and 
detects the miserable lie. Even those latent pro- 
pensities to evil which good people often feel, and 
those folded buds of covetousness, pride, ambition, 
impurity, or malice as they lie in the secret soul, 
and those schemes of evil which circumstances 
repress, those sympathies which we would fain 
conceal, those lurking passions which Providence 
keeps back from development, those secret sins 
and deeds of darkness which are so carefully shut 
in from observation, as well as the prayers and 
struggles of the conscientious, — Christ sees and 
knows, and has registered before Him. 

And how dark must this earth appear to the 
bright, burning, and all-penetrating eye of Jesus, 
to whom all the hidden sins and falsities and cor- 
ruptions of men are as naked and open as their 
more shameless vices! What a spectacle will the 
day of judgment reveal when all that is in peo- 
ple's hearts will be laid bare and every one is seen 
precisely as he is! There is, indeed, a covering 
for sin to those who will take it. God has cove- 
nanted to blot out the sins of them that embrace 
the great Propitiation; and His promise to such 
is that their sins and iniquities shall no more come 
into remembrance: "The blood of Jesus Christ 
cleanseth from all sin;" and where we have Jesus 
for our Advocate and Friend we shall never be 



136 



THE LETTERS OF JESUS. 



ashamed. But His eye is very keen, and we can- 
not secure exemption by mere make-believes, 
shams, and halfway work. 

But, further: ^^His feet are as fine brass^^. — 
' ' like unto fine brass as if they burned in a 
furnace. ' ' 

Feet are the instruments of motion and down- 
treading. Brass tells of strong and imperious 
power for judicial administration. x\nd fluent, 
glowing brass bespeaks intense and burning 
purity. Putting these ideas together, we have 
a vivid picture of the burning holiness and 
mighty strength of Christ to tread down what- 
ever is opposed to Him, and to crush the unholy 
into everlasting fire. 

Christ's eyes of flame to see all, and His pene- 
tration into all secrets, have a purpose. They are 
to enable Him to distinguish between the wheat 
and the chaff. And His feet of brass are for the 
treading down in judgment of all that is unholy 
and impure. As hypocrites and unbelievers are 
all known to Him, so He is armed to crush them 
in righteous indignation for their falsities and 
unfaith. 

II. Notice now zvJiat He finds m this church to 
commend. 

Farther on He tells of what was wrong j but 
with all the faultiness there was much good. In 



TO THE CHURCH OF THYATIRA. 1 37 

the very worst of these churches there still was 
something to approve. 

It is a hard thing for a Church to become so 
totally apostate as to have nothing good in it. 
Amid all the depravity and corruption there still 
are likely to be some who really love and serve 
Christ. Sodom had a I^ot; the bleakest desert 
has some green spots; the snowiest mountain still 
has some humble flowers; and so we may count 
that there are some good and believing people in 
very defective communions. And Jesus has eyes 
to spy them out, and a heart to honor and com- 
mend them if they are really to be found. He is 
not unjust to forget any one's labor of love, and is 
all the more sympathetic with His people because 
of the disadvantages under which they hold fast 
to Him. When Nathanael was hidden away 
under the fig tree communing with God in secret, 
Jesus observed him and noted his devotion; and 
the good works of His servants, though never 
made known to the world — those heart-prayers 
where there was no strength for more, those earn- 
est desires to do which had to remain desires be- 
cause there was no power to carry them into effect, 
and all that is attempted and achieved for God and 
righteousness — He sees and registers in His mem- 
ory for blessing and reward. 

There were believers in Thyatira in whose 
hearts dwelt the love and charity which true 



138 THE LETTERS OF JESUS. 

faith always works. They loved Christ, they 
loved His cause and His Church and His poor. 
And He here sent to them the comforting assur- 
ance that He knew it, and had taken due account 
of it to their credit. 

It is a pleasant thing for any one to know and 
feel that his heart is right, and that he is doing 
what his conscience approves; but it is a still 
more precious thing to know that Jesus observes 
and approves it. 

Very good service also had been done by some 
of these people of Thyatira. They not only 
loved, but they were active in ministries of love. 
Where they had opportunity they did good unto 
all men, especially to them who were of the house- 
hold of faith. 

There are many doors open for Christian useful- 
ness. All can do something for the Saviour and 
His cause; and these had shown their devotion in 
such ways as were open to them. And this also 
the Saviour noted with commendation. Even the 
giving of a cup of cold water to a thirsty one in 
the name of a disciple has its record in heaven, 
and will be mentioned to our credit by our blessed 
Lord and Judge. 

When Christ calls us to be Christians, He calls 
us to a service — to work in His vineyard, to lay 
out our talents for usefulness and profit — and it is 
a great matter to be found faithful, doing what we 



TO THE CHURCH OF THYATIRA. 1 39 

can, ministering according to our gifts. It pleases 
Christ and calls forth His commendation, and 
when we come to stand before Him in the day 
of reckoning He has told us that He will say to 
every such dutiful one, "Well done, good and 
faithful servant ! enter thou into the joy of thy 
Lord." 

But with this love and service there were also 
faith and patience. Moses endured as seeing Him 
who is invisible. This was living faith in God 
and the divine promises, and the root-principle 
which led him to choose suffering with the people 
of God rather than enjoy the pleasures of sin for 
a season. A similar faith and faithfulness existed 
in some of these Thyatirians. They had heard 
the Gospel, and embraced it, and turned their 
backs on the evil and idolatrous world to live for 
Christ and heaven. They had made their choice. 
They had given themselves to be the citizens of 
that invisible and spiritual kingdom of which Je- 
sus is the Head. They had received the promises 
and embraced them, and confessed that they were 
strangers and pilgrims on the earth; and they 
were now on the way to a better country — that is, 
an heavenly. All this Christ assures them that 
He had noticed and had record of it in heaven. 

There is nothing that more pleases our Saviour 
than that we should be full of faith and confidence 
in Him, His word, and His saving power. All 



140 



THE LETTERS OF JESUS. 



that stands written in the Gospel He has caused 
to be written, that we might believe that He is 
the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing we 
might have life through His name. When on 
earth He departed from a certain countr}', and did 
not many mighty works there, because of the un- 
belief of the people. He loves to be trusted, and 
loves them that love Him, and stands pledged to 
bring to honor all them that put their trust in 
Him. And the great question which He asks of 
every one is, "Dost thou believe on the Son of 
God?" Everything depends on that. 

And as service goes with love, so patience goes 
with faith — a readiness to endure and suffer for 
Christ's sake — a firm holding on in trial — a con- 
tinuance in well-doing against whatever discour- 
ao;ements mav come. And of this there were also 
some exemplary ones in the church of Thyatira. 
They had much to dishearten them. They were 
not only stigmatized and hated by their more nu- 
merous heathen neighbors, with all the common 
trials and temptations accompanying Christian 
life, but they had special conflicts and discourage- 
ments within the church itself Their minister 
was an easy-going man, like Hli of old, quite too 
compliant in letting things have their way. In 
Ephesus there was much zeal for sound doctrine, 
and strictness in maintaining it; but here there 
was no discipline and no proper care on that sub- 



TO THE CHURCH OF THYATIRA. 141 

ject. Not only were the most corrupting teach- 
ings allowed, but the most heretical and immoral 
pretensions and practices were permitted, if not 
encouraged. A large portion of the church was 
making common cause with heathenism, and pro- 
moting principles which overturned all Christian 
truth and morality. Another Jezebel had made 
her appearance there, doing as bad work for the 
church in Thyatira as Ahab's heathen wife had 
done for ancient Israel. An order of things had 
come about in which it was no longer an easy 
matter to be a true and faithful Christian. There 
was much to provoke and vex the souls of honest 
and virtuous believers. The cause of Christ was 
being so scandalized and perverted that there was 
strong temptation to abandon all connection with 
a fellowship embracing such corruptions and falsi- 
ties. But they had patience and held on, iinwill- 
ing to forsake the ship, though it had so many 
unclean and unworthy passengers aboard. And 
for this the Saviour commended them. 

It was "through faith and patience" that the 
ancient Fathers inherited the promises, and we 
must ever let patience have its perfect work. It 
will not do to drop all and sulk away from place 
and duty because things do not go right or be- 
cause some are mere hypocrites and unclean pre- 
tenders. The Church is Christ's, and we are not 
to forsake it because there are Jezebels in it who 



142 



THE LETTERS OE JESUS. 



pervert its truth, belie its faith, and scandalize it 
by their bad lives. We cannot expect to have 
heaven on this corrupt earth. We will always 
have much to bear, and much wrong and vexation 
to put up with, and many annoying discourage- 
ments to meet, so long as this world lasts. Hu- 
manity is depraved and perverse, and its evils 
will manifest themselves in one way or another to 
disgust and grieve us. But we must not give up 
on that account. Christ had to endure great con- 
tradiction of sinners, and was even betrayed and 
denied by some of His own most trusted disciples; 
and His followers must expect disheartening trials 
of all sorts. He held on in His gracious work 
amid all His adversities, ever faithful to Him that 
appointed Him; and He would have us courage- 
ously follow His steps. We can . never make 
things better by giving up to discouragements 
and trials. And, whatever the hardships may 
be. He takes notice of them, and His favor is 
with those who continue steadfast, ' ' patient in 
tribulation" and slow to weary in well-doing. 
He takes notice of our patience as well as of our 
successful achievements, and our patient endur- 
ance is one of the things which He will honor 
and reward. 

But there was still another commendable feat- 
ure in the character of these Thyatirian saints. 
In spite of all their adversities, they were grozv- 



TO THE CHURCH OF THYATIRA. 1 43 

ing in their service of love and patience of faith. 
Their last works were more than the first. 

People who act on mere worldly principles are 
apt to do their best first, and to count that that 
ought to suffice. If supplements are added, they 
are mostly feebler and done with less heart and 
diminished cheerfulness. Having done so and so, 
they are prone to think their part done, and that 
they are henceforth to be exempt. It was not so 
with these saints. They had done well at the be- 
ginning, and they were doing better at the last. 
And this the Saviour noted and commended. 

It is meant that we should ever "grow in 
grace," in labors of love, and in the patience of 
faith. We are never done while we are in this 
world. If we have done commendably in the 
past, we are to try to do more commendably as 
strength increases and the circumstances call and 
require. Our Saviour expects this of us, and He 
is all the more pleased when our last works are 
more than the first. It is not meet that we should 
always remain babes in Christ, but that we should 
grow and progress in faith, knowledge, experience, 
patience, and all good works. Having been born 
into the kingdom, it is that we may develop into 
good, intelligent, active, and useful citizens in 
that kingdom. Having set our feet upon the 
way, it is that we may go on unto perfection. 
As children are always longing to be men and 



144 



THE LETTERS OE JESUS. 



women, so we are ever to be aspiring to the full 
stature of men and women in Christ Jesus. And 
it is ahvays more or less a reproach when for the 
time we ought to be teachers, and yet have need 
to be taught what are the first principles of the 
doctrine of Christ. 

Dear friends, there is no standstill in living 
Christianity. If w^e have faith, it will work and 
grow by exercise. The moment patience, cour- 
age, and activity fail. Christian character stag- 
nates and retrogrades. We must keep moving 
and doing, so that w^hen the end comes w^e may 
look back upon lives fragrant with good deeds 
and holy services, and feel that we have at least 
honestly tried to do our duty and to fulfil our call- 
ing in Christ Jesus. And blessed is that disciple 
w^hose last works of love and service and faith and 
patience are more and better than the first. 



Rev. 2 : 20-23 • " Notwithstanding, I have a few things against thee, 
because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel, which calleth herself a 
prophetess, to teach and to seduce my servants to commit fornication, 
and to eat things sacrificed unto idols. And I gave her space to repent 
of her fornication, and she repented not. Behold, I will cast her into 
a bed, and them that commit adultery with her into great tribulation, 
except they repent of their deeds. And I will kill her children with 
death ; and all the churches shall know that I am He which searcheth 
the reins and hearts : and I will give unto every one of you according 
-^o your works." 




FTBR the exalted commendation of the 
laborious and increasing works of love 
and ministration, faith and patience, in 
this church of Thyatira, we would hardly an- 
ticipate much room for reproof and rebuke, still 
less for censures so sharp and threatening as those 
which now actually come before us. But the best 
of churches are often troubled with very unworthy 
members, and the worst are sometimes those who 
are most prominent, active, and pretentious. 

Christ, however, is no respecter of persons. 
He is holy and true; His eyes are like a flame 
of fire; He searcheth the heart and trieth the 
reins; He sees through all pretences, disguises, 
and self-deceits; He tries activities according to 

10 145 



146 



THE LETTERS OF JESUS. 



their principles; He" estimates people for what 
they are in reality; and He has feet of brass to 
bring fiery judgment upon men and women, high 
and low, who are found abusing and perverting 
their calling and profession, misleading His peo- 
ple and corrupting His laws and ordinances. His 
love is great, and His forbearance is not soon ex- 
hausted; but He is as holy, as loving, and as se- 
verely just as He is patiently forbearing. He has 
no compromises to make between good and evil, 
neither does He allow the one to be compensated 
for and offset by the other. Because people mean 
it well Avhile yet greatly erring, or because they 
are looking to the more successful popularizing of 
the Church by doubtful proposals and impure com- 
pliances, they are not therefore excused and passed 
as unblamable. People must be right according 
to Christ, and not simply right according to their 
own judgments, notions, and fancies, or they set 
up a bar between the divine favor and themselves, 
and fall under rebuke and threatening instead of 
blessing and promise. And, comforting and as- 
suring as were the praises which the Saviour here 
pronounced upon some. His accusations and con- 
demnation of others were peculiarly sharp and 
severe. 

It happened also that the centre of this par- 
ticular plague-spot in the church of Thyatira was 
a woman. The Church has ever been much ad- 



TO THE CHURCH OF THYATIRA. 1 47 

vantaged by the influence and activities of its 
women. They personally ministered to Christ 
in His arduous labors when on earth, and Paul 
has numerous special acknowledgments of the 
good services rendered to the cause of the Gospel 
by believing women. Women in general are 
more ready to take hold of sacred things than 
men. A right woman has more soul than a man, 
and has a more tender spiritual sensibility. Man 
was made first, and so was meant to stand fore- 
most as the main outer wall of the great social 
fabric; woman was made afterward, to supplement 
what was wanting in man, to be a help to him, 
as the more graceful inner genius of adornment, 
moving with quicker and lighter step, speaking 
with a softer voice, taking hold with gentler and 
more persuasive touch, and encouraging, bright- 
ening, and mellowing with a more angelic love 
and service. 

Christianity has honored and blessed woman as 
no other religion ever has done; and since the Re- 
deemer of the world condescended to be born of a 
woman the sex has shown instinctive recosfnition 
of the blessing He has brought to them, and has 
never ceased to fill the prophecy of having been 
the last at His cross and the first at His sepulchre. 
It was not without significance for all time that 
the first person to whom the risen Saviour spoke 
was a woman, and that He gave to her a commis- 



148 



THE LETTERS OF JESUS. 



sion of love even to the chief of the disciples. 
And since that time women have ever been the 
most numerous class of His followers and among 
the most active and devoted of His saints, while 
woman's work in the Church has ever been of 
very great worth. 

But the very qualities which prepare her for so 
much usefulness also render her capable of very 
much mischief If the Church has been greatly 
blessed by the pious services of women, it has also 
at times been greatly harmed and hurt by the 
doings of women. Miriam long served Israel as 
a prophetess, yet from her jealous heart and evil 
tongue she stirred up a murmuring and revolt 
which carried with it even Aaron and the elders 
and produced a far-reaching trouble, which, but 
for the interposing judgment of God, would have 
involved the whole people in divine condemna- 
tion. And so the particular evil which troubled 
and spoiled the church at Thyatira was traceable 
to the activity of one of its prominent and influ- 
ential women. 

Her name was Jezebel^ which means "the 
chaste," but she was in real character anything 
but what her name signified. Bearing the name 
of Ahab's queen, she shared largely in that noted 
woman's qualities, and her influence on the Thya- 
tirian church was much like that of the ancient 
Jezebel on the kingdom of Israel. The ancient 



TO THE CHURCH UF THYATIRA. 1 49 

Jezebel was the daughter of a royal priest of Baal, 
and was herself a patron and prophetess of Astarte 
and of the obscene orgies connected with the wor- 
ship of that goddess. She also induced Ahab to 
recognize these abominations as part of the na- 
tional religion. And so this Jezebel gave herself 
out as a leader of instruction and devotion, pro- 
claimed herself a prophetess, and set on foot a 
system of things which swayed even the minister 
of the church, and found a large and influential 
following. She was doubtless a woman of genius 
and much force of character, and perhaps also of 
high birth and connections, to be able so to im- 
pose upon an otherwise good and faithful pastor 
and to mislead so many of his flock. 

In the early days of Christianity it was common 
for the spirit of prophecy to be given to women 
as well as men, and for them at times to exercise 
their gift in the Church even as the men, though 
it soon became necessary to interpose some con- 
straints, that the bounds of modesty and decorum 
might not be transcended, as in the case of the 
heathen pythonesses, who prophesied with dis- 
hevelled hair and raving extravagances, regard- 
less of all decent propriety. "Philip the evan- 
gelist had four daughters, virgins, which did 
prophesy," and it is mentioned to their credit; 
and so it doubtless was in many other instances, 
according to the ancient promise: " Your sons and 



150 THE LETTERS OE JESUS. 

your daughters shall prophesy." Oue of these 
Christian female prophets this Jezebel claimed to 
be, and hence was given great ' ' liberty of proph- 
esying," so that she came to be regarded as an 
authority and gained great influence. 

Nor does the Saviour say that she was not su- 
pernaturally impelled. The only point made in 
that regard is that her spirit was not at all the 
Spirit of God. She claimed that it was of God, 
and may have persuaded herself, as she persuaded 
others, that her inspiration was divine, but all the 
circumstances and facts of the case show that it 
was an inspiration from below and not from 
above. If she had the gift, she certainly had 
not the grace. 

There was demoniac inspiration among the 
heathen, and there are many passages of Scrip- 
ture to show that similar infernal inspirations 
manifested themselves among professing Chris- 
tians. Paul and John both give rules for trying 
the spirits to test whether they are of God or not. 
Jesus Himself says that "many shall come in the 
day of judgment, saying unto Him, Have we not 
prophesied in Thy name, and in Thy name have 
done many wonderful works? unto whom He 
shall say, I never knew you; depart from Me, 
ye workers of iniquity." The false prophet of 
the last times is spoken of as doing great won- 
ders, and deceiving the dwellers on the earth by 



TO THE CHURCH OF THYATIRA. 151 

means of the miracles which he has power to do. 
And from the days of Jannes and Jambres in Egypt 
Satanic and demoniac powers and inspirations have 
run parallel with the manifestations of the Holy 
Ghost, often so cunningly disguised as to influence 
and captivate the confidence of men more than the 
true manifestations from God. Even to this day 
spiritists and mediums, men and women, are proud 
to say that they speak and do marvellous things 
by the inspiration and aid of spirits and powers 
from another world; and they have their follow- 
ings too, as if they verily were divine oracles for 
the setting of this world right. That their in- 
spiration is not of God their character and their 
teachings abundantly show; but that it is all sham 
and pretence I am not prepared to afl&rm. Only 
this I know: that their teachings are from beneath 
and that their whole system is in the devil's inter- 
est and service. There is no holy spirit in any- 
thing they say or do. And of this sort was the 
inspiration of this Jezebel, who by claiming divin- 
ity for her foul spewings overawed her pastor and 
led many of his flock astray. 

The nature of her destructive heresy was of the 
same general sort as that which Balaam taught 
Balak for the ruin of Israel, and which Ahab's 
queen was so successful in introducing in the 
days of Elijah. The substance of it was the oblit- 
eration of the lines of demarcation between the 



152 THE LETTERS OF JESUS. 

Church and the world, between Christian purity 
and heathen debauchery — the throwing of the 
sanctions of religion over carnal indulgence and 
impure life. The most shameless sins were prac- 
tised and encouraged in the name of devotion as 
a triumph over Satan in his own dominions — a 
descending into "the depths of Satan," thereby 
to taunt and defy him. It was a devilish hallu- 
cination. It was Antinomianism of the worst 
and most vulgar sort. In the name of the higher 
Christianity it exalted Christian liberty to such a 
height as to make a virtue of defiant plunging 
into the basest crimes of heathenism to prove the 
sublime exemption which the Gospel works. To 
commit fornication, to live in impurity, to par- 
take of the heathen feasts, and boldly to eat and 
drink what was dedicated to idol gods, as a mat- 
ter of Christian freedom and in token of Christian 
triumph, was what they specially commended. 
Super-exalting the saying of Paul, that . ' ' there 
is now no condemnation to them that are in 
Christ Jesus," they completely set aside and nul- 
lified the further part of the declaration, that this 
exemption is only to those ' ' who walk not after 
the flesh, but after the Spirit. ' ' They perverted 
the Christian calling so as to make it a call and 
license to uncleanness rather than to holiness. 

We can hardly conceive how people could be- 
come so deluded and deceived; and yet such are 



TO THE CHURCH OF THYATJRA. 1 53 

the inspirations of spiritism even to the present 
day, to which so many commit their souls. Even 
some Christians seem to think it no great harm 
to indulge themselves after the world's ways and 
fashions, and that it is better for the Church to 
make free use of what the world likes and fancies. 
But a worldly Church and a fleshly and voluptu- 
ous life are ever at variance with Christ, who has 
only eyes of fire and feet of brass and words of 
condemnation for all such doings. 

It would seem as if this were not the first time 
that special warning and reproof had been given 
to these false members of the church of Thyatira. 
The Saviour speaks of having given this Jezebel 
space to repent of her impurities. This implies 
that she had had due admonition concerning her 
evil ways. Perhaps the apostle John himself had 
been there administering his apostolic reproofs 
to these errorists. Some authoritative rebuke 
had certainly been given, even if the min- 
ister in charge had not done his duty in the 
case. 

God is never summary in His judgments. 
"Sentence against an evil work is not executed 
speedily." He always gives timely warning be- 
fore He strikes. His great desire is that sinners 
may come to repentance, and hence He is forbear- 
ing and long-suffering, warning them of their 
danger, signifying His mind, and giving them 



154 



THE LETTERS OF JESUS. 



space to reform and better their ways. The 
crimes of the old world cried long to Heaven, 
while prophet after prophet was sent to rebuke 
them and call the erring ones to repentance. 
Even after it repented God that He had made 
man, and He had determined to destroy the rebels 
from the earth, He delayed one hundred and twen- 
ty years while Enoch and Noah preached to them 
of righteousness and a coming judgment. When 
the sins of the Canaanites came up before God 
and their extermination was announced, four hun- 
dred years did the judgment linger while Abra- 
ham, lyot, Isaac, and Jacob sojourned among them 
as God's witnesses to lead them to reform. He 
bore long with Ahab, and raised up Elijah to re- 
buke him and to give due warning to the infamous 
Jezebel of the fiery judgments that impended. 
And so it is the principle of His administrations 
to give due warning to offenders and time for 
them to repent before He allows judgment to 
strike. 

But there is a point beyond which God's for- 
bearance will not go, and then the visitation is 
all the more terrible if the wicked have failed to 
profit by His leniency and admonitions. He had 
given this Jezebel space to repent, but she re- 
pented noty She had only despised reproof and 
gone on with her wickedness, until now her pro- 
bation was at an end. There was to be no more 



TO THE CHURCH OF THYATIRA. 1 55 

delay. Judgment was at hand, and terrible that 
judgment was to be. 

There were several classes of offenders in this 
instance — some guiltier and more responsible than 
others, and so there was a graduation in the pun- 
ishments. 

First and guiltiest was this woman Jezebel, who 
claimed to be a prophetess and who was the in- 
spiration and head of the debauching mischief. 
She had paramours whom she had drawn into her 
uncleanness. And the sentence was, I will cast 
her and them into a bed — not simply a bed of 
sickness or a bed of death, but that bed of which 
the Psalmist spoke when he said, ' ' Though I 
make my bed in hell. " " Into great tribula- 
tion " they were to be cast. And this sentence 
was now to go into effect unless the guilty parties 
should "at once repent of their evil deeds." 

But this woman had children, perhaps natural 
children — at least children in the sense of disci- 
ples and followers of her pernicious teachings. 
These had been seduced, deceived, and imposed 
on, but still were not excused or exempted. Their 
sentence was to be killed, to suffer an evil death, 
to be suddenly cut off. And so marked was the 
judgment to be that all the churches should know 
how Christ searches the hearts and reins and re- 
wardeth every one according to his works. 

Dear friends, it is a fearful thing to be indulg- 



156 THE LETTERS OF JESUS. 

ing our own lusts and pleasures and to be deluding 
ourselves with the Christian profession and hopes 
while we consent to run with the wicked world 
and suffer ourselves to be contaminated with its 
impurities and sins. Come out from among them 
and be ye separate, saith the Lord. "Adultery, 
fornication, uncleanness, lascivionsness, idolatr}", 
witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, 
strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, 
drunkenness, revellings, and such like," are all 
works of the flesh and "depths of Satan," which 
no man can yield to and yet retain his Christian 
character and hopes. It is for these things that 
the wrath of God cometh upon the children of 
disobedience, and they which do them must thor- 
oughly repent out of their evil ways or they can 
by no means inherit the kingdom of God. The 
flowers that spring from a true Christian heart are 
of quite another sort. "The fruit of the Spirit 
is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, 
goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against 
such there is no law; and they that are Christ's 
have crucified the flesh with its passions and 
lusts." 

But for the rest that were in Thyatira, the bet- 
ter class of professors, those who had not been se- 
duced into the infamous doctrines and deeds of 
this Jezebel and her lovers, those who had not 
known "the depths of Satan" as these heretics 



TO THE CHURCH OF THYAT/RA. 



boasted of knowing, there was also a special word. 
It was a happy thing for them that they had not 
gone into this satanic school, that they had not 
lent themselves to experiment with what was 
lauded as the higher mysteries of Christian lib- 
erty. It was a good thing that they had been 
content with the simple knowledge of virtuous 
life and experience, without trying to know more 
by knowing evil also. But it was nevertheless a 
burden to them to keep up a perpetual protest and 
fight against these mischievous teachings and 
abominations. 

It is a great misfortune when leaders and active 
members of the Church are not the right sort of 
people — corrupt in principle and life and not to 
be trusted. It makes it hard for those who are 
right, true, virtuous, and desirous to fill out the 
proprieties of Christian life and devotion. It is 
a great drawback and hindrance. It gives a bad 
name to the Church, so that one is half ashamed 
to belong to it, and some take it as sufficient ex- 
cuse for staying out or staying away altogether. 
It often becomes a serious burden. 

But Christ does not fail to sympathize with 
those who have to bear it. He requires of us to 
bear it — not to run away from it, not to become 
indifferent on account of it, not to drop out of 
our places and our duty for the filthy Jezebels who 
may be leading so many by the nose — but to stand 



158 



THE LETTERS OF JESUS. 



firm and do our part with courage and fidelity. 
Jesus said to these better Thyatirian Christians, 
I will put upon you none other burden^ This 
means that one burden at least zvas put upon them 
which it was their Christian duty to bear, and do 
the best they could under it until God's judgment 
should be executed and their relief come. And 
the bearing of this burden was that they were to 
resist the temptation to float with the muddy cur- 
rent of things about them, and cheerfully and un- 
flinchingly to endure whatever inconvenience, 
sneers, or harsh judgments might fall upon them 
for their non-approval of what was wrong, and 
their refusal to run with the erring into the same 
excesses and impurities. 

The truth is, that faithful Christians always 
have burdens to bear — burdens which sometimes 
become very heavy and disheartening. If they 
are not of one kind, they are of another. But 
we are not to give up on account of them. The 
nets are always breaking and the ships are always 
sinking, but as long as Jesus is aboard we will 
never go down. We will get to shore some time, 
and not without an enriching reward for our pa- 
tience and fidelity. 

There is often much to dishearten us in our 
efforts, to weary us in our well-doing, and to make 
us feel as if there were hardly any use in this per- 
petual fight with the indifference, the ill temper, 



TO THE CHURCH OF THYATIRA. 1 59 

and the lack or perversion of Christian spirit on 
the part of many with whom our lot is cast. But 
we must not give way on that account. Our duty 
is to hope on and pray on and work on.. Christ is 
with us in the struggle. He knows what hard- 
ships and discouragements are upon us. He sym- 
pathizes with us, and while struggling with one 
burden He will not allow others to come, and will 
not permit us to be tried beyond what we are able 
to bear. The Jezebels and false ones will not pre- 
vail perpetually. The great lyord has His search- 
ing eye upon them, and His judgment will reach 
them in due time if they repent not. We cannot 
improve things by becoming unfaithful ourselves. 
And hence the words of the Psalmist: " Fret not 
thyself because of evil-doers, neither be thou en- 
vious against the workers of iniquity; for they 
shall soon be cut down like the grass, and wither 
as the green herb. Trust in the Lord, and do 
good, so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily 
thou shalt be fed. Delight thyself also in the 
I^ord, and He shall give thee the desires of thine 
heart. ... 1 have seen the wicked in great pow- 
er, and spreading himself like a green bay tree; 
yet he passed away, and, lo, he was not: yea, I 
sought him, but he could not be found. Mark 
the perfect man, and behold the upright; for the 
end of that man is peace." 



Hecture STenti). 



Rev. 2 : 25-29 : " But that which ye have already, hold fast till I 
come. And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, 
to him will I give power over the nations : (and he shall rule them 
with a rod of iron ; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to 
shivers :) even as I received of my Father. And I will give him the 
morning-star. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith 
unto the churches." 



|HE Saviour is still addressing the few 



faithful Christians in Thyatira. It is 



' ' plain, however, that the words are meant 
for the whole Church of all time. It is not pos- 
sible that power to rule the whole world and dash 
nations to pieces, and the possession of the morn- 
ing star should pertain exclusively to these few 
Christians in that one ill-conditioned church. 
Besides, there is here an admonition to hold fast 
till Christ comes. This seems quite incongruous 
as a direction to a congregation that the Lord 
knew would become extinct long ages before His 
coming, though very suitable as addressed to the 
whole Church, whose business it is to keep itself 
in continual waiting from age to age until He 
does come. And so also the concluding admo- 
nition designates what is here addressed to the 




160 



TO THE CHURCH OF THYATIRA. l6l 

Thyatirians as addressed "to tJic churches^ ^ — not 
to the few people of one church alone, but to the 
universal Church of all time. So we are likewise 
driven to conclude, since every one that has ears 
to hear is admonished to give attention to it. 
These words are therefore to be regarded as the 
Saviour's words to us as well as to these Thya- 
tirians. 

The passage consists of two leading sections, 
with the second coming of Christ as the point of 
separation between them. The first section re- 
lates to time this side of the second advent, and 
the second section relates to time beyond the sec- 
ond advent. The one gives a chapter of things 
to be accomplished in the present earthly life, and 
the other gives a chapter of promises to be ful- 
filled in the period following Christ's return. 

Notice, then — 

I. The requirements respecting this zvorld. 

This faithful remnant in Thyatira had done ex- 
ceedingly well for their circumstances. Their act- 
ivity, their charity, their services, their fidelity, 
their patience, their endurance, and their keeping 
of themselves from the base debaucheries of know- 
ing "the depths of Satan," were favorably no- 
ticed by the Saviour, and His sympathies were 
with them in the burdens that were upon them. 
vSo far, so good. But matters were not to end 
liere. Probation was not yet over, and they were 
11 



l62 



THE LE TTERS OF JESUS. 



to see to their after-life with the same devotion 
and diligence which they had given in the days 
preceding. We are never done working, w^atch- 
ing, praying, and achieving as long as we are in 
this world. 

I. They were to hold fast what they had. They 
had the word and ordinances of God. iVnd these 
are very great things to have. These made them 
Christians, and gave them their hopes, and had 
bronght them to the activities, affections, and at- 
tainments which commended them to Christ's 
favorable regard. 

We sometimes forget how mnch we owe to the 
Bible and those Christian institutes and teachings 
which have made our lot so blessedly different 
from that of the heathen. It is a great thing to 
have the Gospel ever sounding in our ears; to 
have ministers to teach it; to have Christian 
influences around us to condition our homes, 
temper our laws, and influence the habits and 
character of the community in which we live; to 
have the means of grace by which to come into 
fellowship and communion with our Saviour and 
our good Father in heaven; to have a throne of 
grace to go to in our wants, troubles, and trials, 
and a blessed heaven to look for as we are com- 
pelled to lay us down to die. These are not mat- 
ters of course. They are what we have received 
from the Gospel which our fathers have handed 



TO THE CHURCH OF THYATIRA. 1 63 

down to US. But for the good providence and 
grace of God in bringing them to us, and causing 
us to believe in Jesus and His word, we would not 
have them to bless and comfort us in our earthly 
pilgrimage as they do. Nor is there anything on 
earth that could compensate for the loss of them. 
To hold them fast, and to find our chief treasure 
and consolation in them, are ever our highest 
privilege and Christian duty. Hence the word to 
these Thyatirian Christians to hold fast what they 
had. 

To let go of the Gospel is to let go of every- 
thing. To become indifferent to the word and 
sacraments of Christ is to let all the great things 
of our salvation go by default. We must be faith- 
ful in our adherence to them and in our endeavors 
to transmit them in their purity to the generations 
that come after us, even until Christ Himself shall 
come. 

2. These people were to maintain the conflict 
unto victory. Christian life is a perpetual war 
and strife with the evil that is in us, with the sins 
that beset us, with the influences and temptations 
of the world around us, with the errors that 
abound in the Church and all about us, and with 
the ills and trials of this life. Satan is ever act- 
ive in all these things, and we are in constant 
danger of losing our faith and of being drawn 
aside from the paths of righteousness. Therefore 



164 



THE LETTERS OF JESUS. 



we have to be always on the alert, and ever stir- 
ring ourselves np afresh to the utmost fidelity and 
effort, that we ma}' not be overcome of evil and 
come off conquerors in the end. Heav}^ as the 
warfare may be, we must keep it up; never suffer 
our interest or our energ-ies to flas;, nor think of 
giving up the fight until the final victory is won. 
For only unto them that overcome, being faithful 
to the end, is the promise given. 

These people had a hard time of it to maintain 
their Christian character. They were in the midst 
of a world of enthroned heathenism and corrup- 
tion. The church to which they belonged was 
full of false teachino-s and debauchino; error. All 

o o 

the tendencies of society were adverse to faith and 
purity. But this was not to discourage them. 
They were to be all the more inflexible and de- 
termined because their situation was unfavorable, 
and to fight the harder because the eneni}' was so 
strong. Victory would come if only they pressed 
on to it with proper courage and vigor. And to 
this they were to give and keep themselves, with 
their eyes constantly on the goal that was held 
out to them. 

3. Furthermore, they were to keep Christ's 
works unto the end. Christ's works are the true 
Christian works over against the false ways and 
wicked doings of Jezebel and those who fall into 
her snares and seductive devices and teachings. 



TO THE CHURCH OF THYATIRA. 1 65 

The works of tliese heretics were works of the 
flesh and w^orks of the devil — works contrary to 
Christ and His teachings. Christ's works are the 
works of the Spirit — devotion to the faith, love, 
purity, and the deeds of charity — keeping to that 
" wisdom which is from above, which is first pure, 
then peaceable, gentle, easy to be entreated, full 
of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and 
without hypocrisy. ' ' Having embraced Christ as 
the foundation of their confidence and hope, they 
were to build up upon it the structure of a good 
and active life — not wood, hay, and stubble, which 
could not endure the test of judgment, but gold, 
silver, and precious stones — that they might have 
praise and gain when they came to answer in the 
final account. No mere works, however good and 
excellent, can ever avail to save us unless they be 
built on Christ as the great Foundation ; but, built 
on Him and in obedience to His word. He accepts 
them as His works, and if persevered in to the 
end they bring to us great recompense of reward. 
Hence all the sublime honors promised to these 
people were conditioned on their keeping of 
Christ's works and their faithful continuance in 
them unto the end. 

These three things, then, constitute the great 
calling and duty of Christians in this life. What 
we have in and through Christ by faith in Him 
we must hold fast till He comes. The conflict 



1 66 THE LETTERS OF JESUS. 

with depravity and sin we must maintain unto 
final victory. And the works of Christ we must 
keep unto the end. To this we are called by the 
Gospel, and by this means alone can we come to 
the possession of the glorious things which are 
here held out to the faithful. 

And to this we have ample incentives. The 
hardships, strife, and struggle will not continue 
always. The grand promise is that the Saviour 
will soon come again and make an utter end of 
this mixture of good and evil and this constant 
turmoil and conflict between the two. If we 
should die before that time, it will make no dif- 
ference. We will then rest from our labors, and 
the resurrection wall find us the same as if still 
living at the time. That coming is the great 
crowning-point and consummation of our destiny. 
Whether it should be in our lifetime or not till 
long after we have passed away from the cares 
and activities of this present world, on that the 
Saviour would have us keep our eye fixed, and to 
live and look and wait for it as the time when He 
proposes to terminate all our disabilities and to 
fulfil to His faithful people all His grand prom- 
ises. Here we have only duties, trials, hopes; 
but when that point in the divine administrations 
is reached, then hope will become fruition, and 
eternal rewards will take the place of conflicts 
and toils. Quite another order of things shall 



TO THE CHURCH OF THYATIRA. 1 67 

then be introduced, and quite another state of 
affairs will come into play. 
Notice, then — 

II. The promises respecting that world to come. 

Our toiling, striving, and working in this world 
are not to be in vain. There is full compensation 
for them soon to be realized. Our best endeavors 
here may seem to be wasted. Very little gain or 
fruit may we see from them. We may often be 
tempted to drop our hands and say, "It is no 
use." Our best efforts may sometimes appear 
as just so much thrown away. But it is not 
so. The word of our Saviour has put in an 
effectual bar against all such feelings and. 
thoughts. He knows how prone we are to be- 
come desponding, discouraged, and faint, and 
therefore He has put before us the grandest 
assurances that heart can conceive. 

I. First of all, our salvation will be secure. 
By fulfilling the inculcations laid upon us we 
will share the victory and triumph of Christ 
Himself As He bore our sins in His own body 
on the tree, and there received upon Himself the 
full penalty due to them, they shall no more hold 
against us. Cancelled in His blood, they are 
done away, blotted out, exscinded for ever. His 
death and resurrection, sealed to us in our bap- 
tism, is a receipt in full against them. All judg- 
ment for them is past, and we stand justified as 



i68 



THE LETTERS OF JESUS. 



though they had never been. Having conquered 
death and come out from under it in the powers 
of an endless life, death is no longer any harm to 
us. It can only end our labors, aches, and sor- 
rows here, while beyond are resurrection and life 
more exalted and glorious than if death had never 
been. Because our Saviour died for us, and is 
alive as the Lord and Master of death and hell, 
we shall live also, undamaged by their power. 
In a word, we shall be savcd^ all dangers past, 
all troubles over, all disabilities of our falleii 
condition reversed and gone. This in itself 
would be quite enough to compensate for all 
the costs and efforts of a godly life. But, great 
and transcendent as it is, it is only the substratum 
and lower plane of what is held out to the faith- 
ful child of God. 

2. A sublime office and authority wull be con- 
ferred: "He that overcometh, and keepeth ]\Iy 
works unto the end, to him will I give power 
over the nations; and he shall rule [shepherdize] 
them with a sceptre of iron; as the vessels of a 
potter shall they be broken to shivers, even as I 
received from ]\Iy Father." 

What a promise is this! Who could ever have 
thought of such a thing as that the poor, despised, 
and suffering children of God should rise to the 
dio-nitv and o:lor^• of invincible lords over all the 
nations of the earth ? Nay, with the words of 



TO THE CHURCH OF THYATIRA. 1 69 

Christ here and elsewhere so clear and . positive 
before us, how few Christians rise to anything of 
even a faint conception of the transcendent prom- 
ise! But they are Christ's words, and they mean 
what they say, and they are unmistakably true. 

lyook at the presentations on this point: "Do 
ye not know that the saints shall judge the 
world?" Does not the Psalmist tell of a com- 
ing morning, even the morning of the resurrec- 
tion, when "the upright shall have dominion 
over the dwellers in the earth"? Does he not 
tell, again and again, of a time when it shall be 
the high honor of all God's saints to wield the 
sword of double edge, to execute vengeance on 
the heathen and punishments on the people, to 
bind their kings with chains and their nobles 
with fetters of iron — to execute upon them the 
judgment written ? (Ps. 149 : 5-9). Is it not de- 
clared in Daniel that the saints of the Most High 
shall take the kingdom, and that the kingdom 
arid dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom 
under the whole heaven, shall be given to the 
people of the saints of the Most High, whose 
kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all do- 
minions shall serve and obey Him? (Dan. 7 : 18, 
27). Did not the Saviour say to Peter that " in 
the 'regeneration, when ^ the Son of man shall sit 
in the throne of His glory," they which have fol- 
lowed Him shall sit upon thrones of judgment ? 



THE LETTERS OE JESUS. 



(Matt. 19 : 28). In John's visions of what is here- 
after to come to pass has he not told ns of a niul- 
titndinous Man-child whom the dragon sought to 
devour, caught up unto God and His throne to 
rule [shepherdize] the nations with a rod of iron? 
(Rev. 12:5). Did he not see thrones, and God's 
faithful ones who share in the first resurrection 
seated upon them, and reigning wdth Christ as 
His king-priests, very "kings of the earth," who 
brinof their orlorv and honor into the heavenlv 
Jerusalem, in the light of which the saved na- 
tions then living are to walk? (Rev. 20:4-6; 
21 : 24-26)? And wdiat does all this mean but 
exact!}' what the Saviour tells us in the text? 

Dear friends, I am sure that the Church does 
not half see or believe the transcendent things 
which God has arranged and decreed concerning 
them that love Him and do His commandments. 
We talk of being saved — if only we are saved — 
while Jesus is talking of lordships, princedoms, 
regencies, and eternal authorit}^ and dominion. 

The promise now under consideration connects 
directly with the second Psalm. We are there 
told of the decree and appointment of the eternal 
Father constitutino;- His onlv-beofotten Son the 
absolute King and Sovereign of the world, whom 
the kings of the earth and its rulers shall with- 
stand and resist, but whom He wall one day re- 
buke and vex and break with a sceptre of iron. 



TO THE CHURCH OF THYATIRA. I/I 



dashing the rebellious to pieces like a vessel of 
pottery, and subjecting the nations unto Himself 
as His inheritance and possession. It is to this the 
Saviour here alludes in speaking of what He has 
received of His Father. And in the execution 
of these His judgment administrations, and the 
subjugation of the nations by His invincible 
power to His rule and government, He here 
engages to give His victorious people a part and 
share, even as He has j^eceived from His Father. 

It is a mistake to suppose that the earth is to be 
annihilated and cease to be, or that it is ever to be 
denuded of its population. God made it to be in- 
habited, and placed man upon it to multiply, re- 
plenish, and subdue it. Hence we read of gene- 
rations and generations world without end. ' ' The 
end of the world \ \ that we hear of is not the end 
of the earth or the end of generations on the earth, 
but only the end of the present order of things on 
the earth, the end of the present age and fashion 
of the world, the turning of man's day into the 
day of the Ivord, and of man's mortal rule into the 
immortal dominion of Christ and His saints. That 
change comes when Christ comes again, when He 
will gather His people, whether dead or alive, to 
be with Him and to share in the work of judging 
the wicked world and forcibly reducing the rebel- 
lious nations iuto subjection to their rightful Sov- 
ereign, even to Christ. iVnd this judging, sliep- 



172 



THE LETTERS OF JESUS. 



herdizing, and subduing of the nations by an 
invincible rule or sceptre which must break and 
destroy all who resist it, is here the subject of the 
Saviour's promise to the victors who now keep 
His works unto the end. Nor is this all. 

3. The further promise here is to him that over- 
cometh and keepeth Christ's works unto the end: 
' ^And I 7vill give him the morning sta7\ ' ' 

But what new and strange proposal have we 
here? What means this morning star? Great 
kings and mighty rulers are called stars, and so 
are prophets and ministers of the Church; but 
this is a peculiar star and of pre-eminent bril- 
liancy and distinction — the star that leads the 
heavenly hosts, shines on when others have faded 
away, heralds the dawn, and ushers in the day — 
the morning star. And we have only to look a lit- 
tle farther on in this book to find an authorita- 
tive declaration as to the identity of this star. 
Jesus there says, "I am the Root and Offspring 
of David, and the bright and morning Star" 
(chap. 22 : 16). 

This star, then, is Christ Himself, but Christ in 
a particular stage and department of His grand 
redemptive work — Christ as the Herald and In- 
bringer of the day of final glory — Christ in the 
attitude, office, and administrations of the ending 
of this night of time and the ushering in of the 
fulness of His triumph and kingdom. 



TO THE CHURCH OF THYATIRA. 



Christ gives Himself to His people now. He 
is tlieir chief treasure as their Sin-bearer, their 
Teacher, their Forerunner, their Advocate with 
the Father, and their present and ever-sympa- 
thizing Friend — the Captain of our salvation; but 
then He engages to give Himself to them as some- 
thing transcendently more, even as the forthcom- 
ing Sovereign of the world, the Breaker of Satan's 
rule, the Destroyer of Antichrist, the omnipotent 
Subjugator of the nations to His dominion. 

It is night now, but there is a morning coming 
— the morning of resurrection, the morning pre- 
ceding the noon of final glory, the morning when 
deliverance is to come to the Church and the up- 
right enter upon dominion. And the vStar of that 
morning, as of all other blessed mornings, is Jesus. 
He is its light, its glory, its joy, the Herald and 
Bringer of all that makes it glad. As Balaam saw 
Him from afar, He then shall appear as the Star 
out of Jacob, armed with a sceptre to smite the 
four corners of Moab and to destroy all the chil- 
dren of the wicked one, even as the King higher 
than Agag, stronger than the aurochs, and invin- 
cible as the devouring lion. As He Himself has 
said, "Then shall the Son of man sit in the 
throne of His glory, and before Him shall be 
gathered all nations" — "When He shall come 
to be glorified in His saints, and to be admired 
in all them that believe." And Himself, as He 



174 



THE LETTERS OF JESUS. 



then shall come forth in His imperial majesty, 
does He here promise to give to ever}- victor who 
keeps His works unto the end- 
Wonderful promise ! Behold the crowned el- 
ders on their golden seats round about the throne 
flashing with the symbols of the divine majesty, 
and the living ones six-winged and full of eyes 
conjoined with the throne and sharing in its 
awfulness of glory — all as seen in the vision of 
John, and you have these blessed victors in the 
possession of "the morning star." Our hearts 
tremble at the blaze of glory, dignity, authority, 
and power which shines forth in the description. 
And to have it in blessed fruition as our own is 
what the Saviour here promises when He says to 
every finally victorious Christian, ' ' and I will 
give him the vio ruing siar^ 

Said I not right, dear friends, that our Chris- 
tian toiling, striving, and working in this ill 
world are not in vain? Is there not in the real- 
ization- of all this an overwhelming ampleness 
of recompense for all that our devotion and fidel- 
ity may cost us during these few fleeting years? 
What more could we ask or think than is here 
pledged to us by our blessed Lord if we but keep 
His works unto the end? With such prospects 
ahead in the near future, and Christ's own word 
as our security for their attainment, and His res- 
urrection as their indul^itable seal, what is there 



TO THE CHURCH OF THYATIRA. T75 

in all the discipline, duties, hardships, discourage- 
ments, and adversities attending a life of faithful- 
ness to God to be for one moment considered over 
against such a recompense of reward? Well 
might we be called on to rejoice and be exceed- 
ing glad amid reviling and persecution and all 
the ills that can befall us for our Christian faith; 
for great indeed is our reward in heaven. 

Let us, then, be stirred up by these precious 
words of our Saviour to hold fast His truth and 
our profession, to keep diligently to our places 
and our duties as His called and chosen ones, to 
bear willingly whatever burdens His providence 
may lay upon us in this world, to endure hard- 
ship as good soldiers of the cross, and to set our- 
selves with unflagging constancy to keep His 
works unto the end, that we may come off more 
than conquerors through Him who loves us and 
washed us from our sins in His own blood and 
engages to make us kings and priests unto God. 

And if any one hath an ear to hear, let him 
not fail to hear, and take earnestly home to his 
soul, what the Spirit saith unto the churches. 



Hectare (Slebendj, 



Rev. 3 : 1-3 : "And unto the angel of the church in Sardis write : 
These things saith he that hath the seven Spirits of God, and the seven 
stars : I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and 
art dead. Be watchful, and strengthen the things whicli remain, that 
are ready to die : for I liave not found tliy works perfect before God. 
Remember, therefore, how thou hast received and heard, and hold 
fast, and repent. If, therefore, thou shalt not watch, I will come on 
thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon 
thee." 

l^^^gHE city of Sardis was once among the 
noblest of the Bast. Its situation and 

' its climate were exceptionally fine. It 

had excellent mountains and was washed by a 
river famous for its golden sands. It was the 
capital city of the kingdom over which Croesus 
reigned, whose name has been the symbol of 
riches ever since his time. It had a temple as 
renowned as that of Bphesus, and far more an- 
cient. It had a palace of gorgeous magnificence. 
It was a centre of wise men as well as rich men, 
and numbered Thales, Cleobulus, and Solon among 
its inhabitants. Full in sight w^ere the gigantic 
tumuli of the Lydian monarchs, and around them 
spread the plains where Xerxes massed his mam- 

176 



TO THE CHURCH OF SARD IS. 1 77 

moth forces when he went forth for the subjuga- 
tion of Greece. And scarce was there another 
spot on earth with which more varied and more 
vivid remembrances are associated. 

But, though connecting with a number of the 
greatest names in history, and a place of great 
importance under various empires for ahiiost two 
thousand years, successive sieges, sudden surprises, 
earthquakes, and conflgrations, and the changing 
vicissitudes in earthly affairs have long since re- 
duced it to a perfect desolation, with nothing left 
but a few paltry huts, the fanes of dead religions, 
the tombs of forgotten monarchs, and a few scat- 
tered ruins, with the wild trees growing in the 
banquet-halls of its former kings. And as it 
went with Sardis, so has it gone with the church 
of that city. 

By whose ministry or by what special provi- 
dence this church was founded we are nowhere 
told. The ruins of a Christian edifice have been 
identified as the church of St. John, and he per- 
haps was the man who first planted Christianity 
there. The only name historically associated 
with the church of Sardis is that of Melito, who 
was its bishop about the middle of the second 
century. But tliere is everything to beget the 
belief that it was a church of distinguished 
prominence. The character of the place, the 
wealth of the people, and the fact noted by the 
12 



i;8 



THE LETTERS OE JESUS. 



Saviour that it had a name to live warrant the 
couchision that it was regarded as a model church 
and one in high esteem by the other churches in 
Asia Minor. Whatever its inner character may 
have been, it had a name and fame at least in its 
outer manifestations of Christian life, enterprise, 
and strength. And to this church the Saviour 
now comes to give His estimate and judgment, 
both for its learning and for ours as well. 

I. Notice in zvhat attitude He presents Himself. 

"These things saitli He that hath the seven 
spirits of God and the seven stars." 

A very important and very delightful truth here 
comes to our contemplation. Whatever the need 
of the Church may be, there is everything in 
Christ to meet the want. He has ' ' tlie seven 
spirits of God^^ — that is, all the plenitude and 
ampleness of the Holy Ghost — for the illumina- 
tion, quickening, sanctification, and abundant 
help of all His people. If they are in darkness. 
He has the fulness of the Spirit to enlighten 
them. If their life is feeble, their faith weak, 
their devotion cold. He is possessed of the power 
and grace to revive them and bring them to new 
spiritual vigor. And, whatever their infirmities 
may be, they have only to look and apply to Him 
and the requisite help is at hand. For He has 
"the seven spirits of God." 

Men have debated whether the Holy Spirit pro- 



TO THE CHURCH OF SARD IS. 1 79 

ceeds only from the Father, or, as we confess, 
"from the Father and the Son^ Christ's own 
word as here spoken should settle that question, 
"The seven Spirits of God" are the plenary and 
manifold fulness of the Holy Ghost; and, as Jesus 
claims to have these, and has them to impart. He 
must be God, and the Holy Ghost issues from Him 
the same as from the Father. Certainly we have 
in Him all power and grace to help in every time 
of need. 

Great and manifold are the offices of the Holy 
Ghost. He is called the Paraclete ; and a para- 
clete is an instructor, witness, monitor, helper, 
guide, and comforter. The giving of the Holy 
Ghost is an endowment with power from on high 
— the gift of a divine presence to quicken, ener- 
gize, establish, equip, lead, and prosper in all 
sacred experiences and activities. There is noth- 
ing that we more need, or that the Church more 
needs to keep it alive in faith and good works, to 
give it efficiency, consolation, spirituality, and joy, 
than such a Paraclete. But for all these, offices 
Jesus has and sends the Holy Ghost, and gives 
Him to all them that ask Him and submit them- 
selves to His word; for He is able to save them to 
the uttermost who come unto God throuo^h Him. 

Furthermore, with the seven spirits of God He 
has also " ///^ seven stars^ "The seven stars 
are the ministers of the seven churches." This 



l8o THE LETTERS OF JESUS. 

means that He has instituted the ministry, that 
He calls men into it, that He owns them and their 
ministrations as part of the holy organism by 
which He dispenses life and salvation. They are 
His ambassadors. By them He speaks. Dealing 
with them in their holy office is dealing with Je- 
sus. They have no right to go beyond His -word 
or to do in His name what He has not commanded. 
They are His; He owns them and provides them 
for His Church, and He holds them to strict ac- 
count for the manner in which they discharge the 
duties of their high office. No minister is in any 
respect independent of Christ, and no church is 
independent of the ministry Christ has constituted 
for its service. If a church has a good and faith- 
ful minister, Christ has sent him and made him 
what he is, and will never cease to qualify and 
send faithful ministers into His churches if people 
will look to Him for them and profit as they 
should by the ministrations of those whom He 
sends. 

And it is also a great and comforting truth that 
Jesus has these stars, equips them for their places, 
sends them to serve His flock, holds and controls 
them for the supply of His Church's needs. Hence 
also He charges all His people to pray the Lord of 
the harvest to send forth laborers into His harvest. 
They are also worth praying for, for how shall 
men hear without a preacher? and how shall they 



TO THE CHURCH OF SARD IS. 



i8i 



preach except they be sent? A good and faithful 
minister is indeed a star in Christ's right hand — a 
light-bearer and light-giver to the children of 
men. 

Thus, then, as the possessor of all the powers 
of the Holy Ghost, and of the ministry appointed 
for the Church, Jesus here speaks to the church 
in Sardis. 

2. Notice zvhat He finds in this church. 

Nothing was hid from Him. He needed not 
that any one should tell or testify as to the state 
of things. His eye searches the hearts of all His 
people. He knows their works and all that per- 
tains to their condition. He understands every 
one of us through and through — all that we are, 
all that we do, all that we think, and everything 
concerning us. And His judgments are infal- 
lible. 

He saw in this church in Sardis that it had a 
name, a good reputation, and was credited with a 
great deal of activity and life. Perhaps it had 
much wealth. Perhaps it was very liberal in its 
contributions for the general cause. At any rate, 
it had a name for being a live church. No fault 
is found with its orthodoxy. It is not censured as 
giving place to false teachers or harboring false 
and unworthy members. It seems to have been 
orderly, peaceful, respectable, and outwardly in- 
fluential. And if everything had corresponded 



l82 



THE LETTERS OF JESUS. 



with its reputation and the outward appearances, 
it would have been perhaps the completest and 
most honorable of the seven. 

But things are not always what they seem or 
deserving of the credit which they receive. While 
this church had a name for life, it was really to a 
great extent dead. It was actually dying. It had 
a reputation for life, while it was largely dead as 
to true spirituality. There was a reputable form 
of godliness, but it did not have the proper power. 
There was plenty of gentility and an honorable 
external estate, but there was much inward stag- 
nation, worldly contamination, and spiritual de- 
cay. There were a few who had not defiled their 
garments, but the majority partook of the charac- 
ter imputed to the people of Sardis in general. 
There were works and activities, but they were 
much soiled and not filled out toward God. 
There was a weakening in the power of faith. 
Death was creeping over the souls of the peo- 
ple. A process of dying had set in, which had 
taken possession of many and was extending 
more and more, demanding a prompt aud vigor- 
ous reformation to prevent things from be- 
coming like the valley of dry bones in Ezekiel's 
vision. 

It is hard to conceive of a more unfortunate 
condition for a church than to have a name to live 
while virtuallv dead. It is not so bad to be dead 



TO THE CHURCH OF SARD IS. 183 

and to know it, wearing no disguise and without 
hypocritical show, as to have the ghastly skeleton 
clothed with a feigned life. To be dead, with the 
mere semblance of vitality, is more disgusting than 
to be laid out in undisguised death. It is a sad 
thing to contemplate the bare possibility of such 
an estate as having a name for life and yet being 
dead. But such, alas! is only too often the case 
with churches and with people who profess to be 
Christians. Even as human eyes see, instances 
of the kind are not wanting, and we have reason 
to suspect that there are many more quite veiled 
from human sight who to the all-seeing eye of Je- 
sus are really but walking sepulchres in which 
there is only deadness and decay. 

Nor should we too confidently turn away from 
the description as not possibly applying even to 
ourselves. There may be orthodoxy, and yet spir- 
itual death. There may be a reputation for living 
devotion and godliness, and the true life of the 
Spirit of God be absent from the soul. There is 
such a thing as impressing others, and even our- 
selves, with the idea that we are all right when 
the hand of death may be upon our whole spirit- 
ual nature. A corpse can be galvanized into the 
motions and mimicries of life while yet it is as 
dead as a stone. And we all need to try ourselves 
well, lest, having a name to live, we should yet 
be dead. 



THE LETTERS OF JESUS. 



3. Notice icJiat Christ demanded of this people. 

Ver}' tender and gracious is our Saviour, even 
to the weakest and unworthiest of His flock. 
Wherein they are not right He is anxious to 
bring them right, and so orders His providence 
and word that they may become sensible of their 
faulty condition and have the opportunity and 
means of recoverv before thino^s have grone be- 
yond remed}'. We know how reluctant He was 
to give up the rebellious people of Israel, and 
what tears and lamentations He gave out over 
Jerusalem when He saw that the da}^ of grace was 
past and all further hope was gone. With what 
touching pathos have those words thrilled down 
the centuries from the side of Olivet! — " O Jeru- 
salem! Jerusalem! thou that killest the prophets, 
and stonest them that are sent unto thee! How 
often would I have gathered thy children together, 
as a hen gathereth her brood under her wings; but 
ye would not!" And with still more tenderness 
is He moved toward those of His own flock whom 
He finds out of the way and read}' to perish. 
Therefore, with the utmost gravity, and yet with 
the most affectionate tenderness, He here appeals 
to these failing Sardians and to all in like condi- 
tion to revive and save them, and admonishes them 
of what alone can do awa\- with the trouble. 

First of all, He calls upon them to get their 
eyes open, to become wakeful, to stir themselves 



TO THE CHURCH OF SARDIS. 1 85 

Up to watchfulness. The import of the expres- 
sion is precisely that of Paul to the Bphesians, 
where he says: "Awake, thou that sleepest, and 
arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee 
light." 

It appears that these people had rocked them- 
selves to sleep in their faith. They had become 
so self-satisfied that all anxieties were allowed to 
slumber. It was a sleep that meant death if not 
aroused from it; but it was not yet so deep that 
there was no more hope. And what they were 
now to do was to stir themselves up to more wake- 
fulness, more vigor, more spiritual earnestness. 
They were not out of danger, but they were not 
alive to it. They had become inert and drowsy 
in religious duty, but had no right consciousness 
of their situation. They were gradually sinking 
into a state of death, but had no serious concern 
about it. This state of things was now to be 
broken up, their anxieties quickened, their flag- 
ging energies aroused. They were to trim afresh 
the lamps of their profession, and to set them- 
selves on the lookout for the perils that impended 
over them. 

Furthermore, they were to strengthen what re- 
mained and was ready to die. Not everything 
was yet dead. Their profession still continued. 
Some works were still being attended to, but with 
a spirit so indifferent, heartless, and perfunctory 



THE LETTERS OF JESUS. 



as to be more dead than alive and fast tending to 
extinction. Everything needed tonic and revivaL 
And to this they were now to give themselves. 

When people become lax and complaining with 
reference to the Chnrch, and religious duties be- 
come irksome, and interest and spirit in sacred 
things become dull and secondary, it is high time 
for them to bestir themselves, turn over a new 
leaf, and strive for a new baptism of the Spirit, 
that what is thus lame and weak may be healed 
and strengthened, lest everything of their Chris- 
tian character should die out. Backsliders must 
return, take hold afresh, set out with new vigor, 
and stir up the gift of God that is in them, or all 
their religion must pass for nothing. What has 
been done scantily, imperfectly, intermittingl}^, 
if not grudgingly, must be entered upon with a 
new heart, higher resolve, and more earnest de- 
votion, or everything must fail. 

And in order to this these people were to recur 
to their first experience, and call to mind how it 
was with them at the beginning. They were to 
remember how they had received and heard; with 
what self-sacrifice and holy unction the apostles 
had preached to them and labored among them in 
order to bring them to faith in Christ; with what 
glad devotion they had grasped hold of the word 
of promise that was thus brought to them; how 
different were their feelings, zeal, and earnestness 



TO THE CHURCH OF SARD IS. 1 87 

then from what they had now become; and by 
honest repentance and fast-clinging to what they 
then so eagerly received get themselves back again 
to the same devout and hopeful condition. 

It is a good thing for Christians betimes to re- 
member how it was with them when they first set 
out to be the servants and children of God — what 
a lively perception of duty, and tenderness of 
conscience, and sincerity of endeavor, and com- 
pleteness of surrender to Christ, and fulness of 
determination then marked them — that they may 
see in how far they have sunk away from their 
first love, and thus move themselves to do their 
first works over again and strengthen what is 
ready to die. The first in all these churches was 
the best, and so it is apt to be with Christians 
in general. And hence the Saviour's words are 
always in place, calling upon us to remember how 
we received and heard at the beginning, and set 
ourselves to hold fast and repent, and get our- 
selves back again to our first love. 

4. Glance for a moment at the consideration by 
which the Saviour enforces and impresses these 
demands. 

Man is a reasoning being, and capable of being 
moved by rational motives. Jesus does not com- 
mand as a tyrant. He asks and enjoins only what 
is reasonable and what addresses itself to our con- 
sciences and judgment as proper and right. We 



i88 



THE LETTERS OF JESUS. 



find ourselves in a certain condition ' and com- 
passed about by a certain order which is fixed 
beyond our controL We are moral beings, and 
cannot escape moral responsibility. We are here 
passing through a period of probation with a view 
to very exalted promotions and honors. There is 
a time coming when this probationary scene must 
end and the results of our faithfulness or failure 
be reached. And, as Christ has come and opened 
up to us a blessed immortality, and called us by 
the Gospel to keep ourselves in preparation and 
readiness for the revelation of His glorious king- 
dom, so He has promised to come again to receive 
all His faithful ones to Himself When that com- 
ing is to be He has nowhere told us and no man 
knoweth. We only know that it is to be, that it 
will be a time of transcendent blessedness to those 
whom it finds ready and waiting for it, and that 
for the careless, indifferent, and unready it will 
be very calamitous, cutting them off from the 
honors of the kingdom, consigning them to the 
trials and sufferings of the great tribulation which 
shall befall the wicked world, and making their 
salvation "so as by fire," if, indeed, they are ever 
saved at all. And this mysterious, eventful, and 
impending coming again of the lyord Jesus is 
what He here puts before these drowsy and dying 
Sardians to tone them up to life and duty. 

What if the great day should be suddenly pre- 



TO THE CHURCH OF SARD IS. 1 89 

cipitated upon them in the condition in which 
they then were ? What if the view of the judg- 
ment-throne should break upon them with no 
better preparation for it than having a name to 
live and yet being so* deep in spiritual death? 
What could they expect in that case but to be 
"left," being accounted unworthy to escape those 
things then coming on the earth or to stand be- 
fore the Son of man ? Of what high and glow- 
ing honors would they thus have failed for ever! 
But just these deplorable calamities does the Sa- 
viour put before these dull, slumbering,- and dying- 
saints as the grand moving reason why they should 
at once wake up, shake off their deadness, and 
put themselves in earnest duty and honest wait- 
ing and watching for their lyord. "If therefore 
thou shalt not become awake and watchful, I will 
come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know 
at what hour I shall come upon thee." That is 
to say, all sleepy and unwatchful people shall be 
taken by surprise; the decisive hour will come 
upon them unawares, and the result shall be the 
loss of those dignities and honors to which all 
hearers of the Gospel are now called. 

Nor is there anything in the Scriptures more 
constantly used by the Holy Ghost or better fitted 
to stir up sleepy Christians to their duty, or to 
tone up decaying piety, than this doctrine of the 
coming again of Christ and the need to be look- 



1 90 THE LETTERS OF JESUS. 

ing and watching for it every day, that we may 
be found of Him in peace, and not suffer the sore 
excision which must then befall the unready. 
Again and again the solemn command is to keep 
awake and watch, since we know neither the 
day nor the hour when the Son of man conieth. 
Whether for the warning of the wicked, the en- 
couragement of the saints, or the stirring up of 
the hearts of ministers and people to scrupulous 
fidelity to duty, the word continually is. The Lord 
is at hand — Behold He cometh — The time is come 
that judgment must begin — Blessed is he that 
watcheth and keepeth his garments. And one 
reason why the Christianity of our day is so flab- 
by, so lacking in life and earnestness, so ready to 
make common cause with the world and its van- 
ities, is that the great doctrine of the near and 
impending coming again of Christ has so much 
dropped out of the thinking, preaching, belief, 
and understanding of the Church. Did people 
but remember and realize the momentous truth 
that any day or night the trump of judgment 
may be sounded and all present opportunities 
be suddenl}' cut short, a very different state of 
things would exist and life would instantly take 
the place of death. Oh, that the Church might 
awake to the momentous things that must shortly 
come to pass ! 

And what guarantee have we, dear friends, that 



TO THE CHURCH OF SARD IS. I9I 

any moment may not be our last ? Who can tell 
how long he has to live or how quickly the trum- 
pet of judgment may sound, the dead be raised, 
and all God's ready saints be changed and caught 
away in the twinkling of an eye? I^uther gave it 
as his belief that it would be about Baster-time 
that the I^ord would come; and what if it should 
be the Easter of this present year? I dare not 
say that this is the time, neither dare I say that it 
is not; for no man knoweth or can know. But it 
is just as likely to be in such a year as this has so 
far been as in any other. And our Saviour would 
have us lay to heart and consider how it would be 
with us if He should now come. 

IvCt us, then, not trifle with the momentous pos- 
sibility, but heed the admonition from our lyord 
to get ourselves awake to duty, to strengthen the 
things that remain, to repair what is wanting, and 
to set ourselves right, lest He should come upon 
us in the stealth and unexpectedness of the thief, 
and all should be disaster before we know it. 



Rev. 3 : 4-6 : " Thou hast a few names even in Sardis which have 
not defiled their garments ; and they shall walk with me in white : for 
they are worthy. He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in 
white rainicnt ; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of 
life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his 
angels. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto 
the churches."' 



T is very seldom that a church becomes so 
corrupt as to have no genuine Christians 
in it. As there is no visible church in 
Christendom in which all the members can be 
counted as saints, so there is scarcely a confessed 
church which has no good and faithful children 
of God in it. There was an Enoch and a Noah 
in the midst of the dreadful apostasy which 
brought on the Flood, a Job among the emirs 
of Arabia, an Abraham among the idolatrous 
population of Ur, a IvOt even in Sodom. And 
so in the midst of the deadness of the church in 
Sardis there were some happy exceptions, some 
scattered lis^hts amid the darkness — like Savona- 
rola, Wickliflfe, Huss, and lyUther amid the abound- 
ing gloom of the ages preceding the great Refor- 
mation. 

192 



TO THE CHURCH OF SARDIS. 



We must not conclude too unfavorably where 
things look ill. The stars are not all gone be- 
cause the sky is overcast. Amid the dreary snows 
and ice-rivers of the Alps and the Apennines there 
still may be found here and there a solitary flower. 
We search in vain for a wilderness so sterile as not 
to have in it some spring, some oasis, some tree or 
shrub or blossom. When Ahab had destroyed the 
prophets of the Ivord, and Elijah thought that he 
alone survived, faithful among the faithless, God's 
eye still noticed seven thousand who had not bowed 
the knee to Baal. And in the days of Malachi, 
when almost the entire nation had become apos- 
tate, there still was a remnant that feared the 
Lord, who spake often one to another, and whom 
God had entered in His book of remembrance as 
His in the day that He should make up His 
jewels. 

It is wrong to assume that there is nothing in 
Christianity, or that religion is a sham, because 
there are so many faithless people in the Church; 
so much empty profession; so many betra\'als of 
confidence; so much deceit, uncharity, and bap- 
tized guilt; so much cloaked and gilded ungodli- 
ness; so much boastfulness of life where there is 
so much death. Sad as the facts may be, God 
has not left Himself without witnesses. There 
are some names "even in Sardis which have not 
defiled their garments " — some good men and true 

13 



194 



THE LETTERS OF JESUS. 



in whom the cause of Christ is justified, its saving 
virtue proven, and its glory demonstrated — men 
in whom its life still is preserved and perpetuated, 
who stand as monuments to the faith, the lights 
of their country, and the salt of the earth. If it 
were not so all would go to utter desolation. 
Hence Sodom's judgment lingers while Lot is 
within its gates. Till Christians have escaped 
the doomed city of Jerusalem stands invulnerable. 
Great Babylon itself is secure until God's people 
have come out of her. And the fact that things 
still go on in the Church and in the world as well 
as they do proves that true faith and genuine god- ' 
liness have not utterly disappeared, and that there 
are still some genuine saints with garments unde- 
filed. 

I. Note the Saviour'' s description of these people. 

He says of them that they "have not defiled 
their garments." K man's clothing is that which 
is next to him — that in which he puts himself 
forth — that in which he lives, moves, and acts. 
And so there is another sort of clothing which 
does not come from the weaver's loom and is not 
fitted by the tailor's hand. It is what we have 
around us in the world, the facts and circum- 
stances of our life-contact with the earth and the 
things of the earth, our relations and associations. 
Bvery one thus has his vestment. No one in this 
respect is naked or divinely intended to be. 



TO THE CHURCH OF SARD IS. 195 

Christianity is not a divestiture of one's self of 
domestic and social surroundings. It is not the 
stripping off of the proper garments in which 
alone a man can properly live. Seclusion, soli- 
tude, asceticism, monkery, and cloister-life, sev- 
ered from all connection with the ordinary world, 
is a species of denudation and nakedness outside 
of the divine order. All natural surroundings 
and honest pursuits, with all the cares, anxieties, 
toils, and even sorrows, which they bring, are for 
our greater comfort, usefulness, and glory. He 
who cuts himself off from them cuts himself off 
from God's natural sacraments. They are our 
proper clothing, to warm, protect, beautify, and 
bless us. They tend to ennoble, not degrade. 
They have a spiritual aim, and a spiritual value 
also, if they be rightly managed. Our business 
as Christians is not to cast them off, but to wear 
them, live and act in them, only so as to keep 
them without being draggled and defiled. 

The atmosphere of this world may be unfavor- 
able to purity. There is a constant tendency to 
taint. Silver will tarnish unless pains be taken 
to keep it clean and bright; and so our surround- 
ings are liable to corrosion and soil if we be not 
on our guard. Even the best vestments are liable 
to take on filth, contagion, impurity, and disease. 
There can be no putting forth of life on earth but 
it is exposed to uncleanness. In society, in busi- 



196 



THE LETTERS OF JESUS. 



ness, in the home, and even in the church, there 
is constant liability to slovenliness and defilement. 
James charges against certain Christian professors 
that their garments were moth-eaten, and the Sa- 
vionr Himself speaks of the necessity of watch- 
ing and keeping onr garments. 

It therefore belongs to true Christianity not to 
try to get away from ordinary life, but to live and 
act in such a way as to keep our garments clean. 
Washed and made white in the blood of the Lamb, 
they can also be kept white and clean even in the 
midst of all the dust and filth of this unclean world. 
If the Church, as such, is dead and corrupt, there 
is no reason why we as individuals should be. If 
others wallow in uncleanness and glory in their 
shame, there is no occasion for us to follow their 
ways. Joseph could pass through trial to princely 
honor, and maintain himself from first to last, 
without becoming unfaithful to God and right- 
eousness. Daniel could maintain his purity un- 
impeachable through dynasty after dynasty in 
Babylon's unholy court. And as the blessed 
Master was in the world without being of it, 
using it as not abusing it, so may we also, in our 
degree, make our passage through it in contact 
with its sins without contracting its impurities. 

Absolute purity, except in the merit and right- 
eousness of Christ, we cannot have on earth. 
Weaknesses, errors, and infirmities cleave to us 



TO THE CHURCH OF SARDIS. 



197 



all our lives through. We cannot travel without 
dust. The rust will settle on the purest metal. 
But we need not keep the dust on us nor suffer 
the rust to eat the metal up. These people in 
Sardis managed to have clean garments, though 
in contact with very great corruption and decay. 
They maintained themselves in living faith and 
purity where everything was full of defilement 
and deadness. With their robes washed and 
made white in the blood of the lyamb they wore 
them without soil. They had turned from dumb 
idols to serve the living God and to wait for His 
Son from heaven; and in this service and waiting 
they continued. If the name or profession of 
others was a lie, it was not a lie in their case. 
They may have had a hard struggle for it, but 
they continued faithful. If others were lured by 
the siren songs of worldly compliance, they were 
not. If others w^ere content with a name to live 
while spiritually dead, this could not be said of 
them. Alive to the truth and to their Christian 
callinof, thev continued steadfast in the same. 
They had "not defiled their garments." 

II. Note the Saviour^ s connnendation to these 
faithful ones. 

Though hidden away in a congregation so dead. 
He had not overlooked them. Jesus sees and notes 
the humblest and most hidden of His saints, and 
no matter how bad, diseased, or decayed may be 



198 



THE LETTERS OF JESUS. 



the church to which they belong, He knows them 
and takes due account of them, and has them 
credited in His memory and affection. 

These were perhaps the least popular and the 
least influential of all the members of the church 
in Sardis. If they spoke out, it is plain that but 
little regard was paid to them. Perhaps they 
were credited with being religious over-much — 
with being too scrupulous, too fanatical, too strict, 
and more disagreeable than pious. Perhaps they 
were put aside, blamed with insubordination, cen- 
sured as disturbers and trouble-makers, because 
they protested against the worldliness and dead- 
ness which had taken possession of that church. 
But Christ here speaks for them, vindicates them, 
declares them "worthy," and gives it as their lot 
to walk with Him in white. 

The most neglected and despised on earth are 
often the most esteemed in heaven. It matters 
not for the standing of men in the eyes of this 
world or in the eyes of a dead and dying Chris- 
tendom, provided they have the life of saints as 
well as the name— the power of godliness as well 
as its form. They are not unknown to Jesus. His 
favor is on them in all their trials. They have 
status in heaven which the highest in this world's 
esteem might well covet. And they have an Ad- 
vocate and a blessed record on high. 

"It is very beautiful to observe the gracious 



TO THE CHURCH OF SARDIS. 1 99 

manner in which the lyord recognizes and sets 
His seal of allowance to the good which he any- 
where finds. Abraham said ' that be far from 
Thee to slay the righteous with the wicked ;' and 
it is far from Him even to seem to include the 
righteous and the wicked in a common blame. 
He who delivered Noah from the destruction of 
the old world, who drew just Lot out of Sodom, 
who could single out from the whole wicked fam- 
ily of Jeroboam and take from the evil to come 
Abijah for some good thing that was found in 
him, beholds the few faithful in Sardis and will 
not suffer them to endure their lot as if they were 
unnoticed by Him, or allow them to be included 
in the condemnation of the church to which they 
belonged. ' ' 

If we are true to our Christian profession, Jesus 
pronounces us blessed, and assures us of great re- 
ward in heaven, whatever men may think of us. 
Having kept the garments of grace unsoiled, we 
shall also wear the garments of glory. And, 
though excluded from the friendship and society 
of the proud and consequential on the earth, we 
nevertheless shall have the sublimer companion- 
ship of walking with Jesus in white — in the spot- 
less and trailing robes of dignity and honor. 

in. Notice the specific promises to this church. 
"He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed 
in white raiment." 



200 



THE LETTERS OF JESUS. 



White is the emblem of perfection, purity, and 
exaltation. Anciently, when a priest was to be 
ordained the council examined his genealogy and 
his person, and if found imperfect he was clothed 
and veiled in black and sent away; but if all was 
right he was clothed in white and passed to the 
dignity of a priest of the Most High. So all 
Christians are called to be priests of God and of 
Christ, to serve in the eternal sanctuar}\ But our 
attainment to that honor depends on the success 
of our conflict with sin. If final victors we shall 
be arrayed in the clean linen, pure and white, as 
the Lord's royal priests. 

The Jewish scribes were ambitious to walk in 
long robes. They considered it a thing of grace, 
dignity, and honor. The Roman patricians wore 
white robes as badges of their high rank which 
none but themselves might wear. These marked 
them for the special respect of men and denoted 
their superior exaltation. Perhaps there were 
some such in the church of Sardis to whom the 
people looked up with particular reverence. But 
better far than all such marks of dignity is the 
promise to every Christian victor. All such are 
to be the magnates and patricians of heaven, for 
Jesus says, the same shall he clothed in white 
rawienty The robes of Aaron and the royalty 
of David, the sacredness of the priests and the 
rank of kings, shall be united upon them. The 



TO THE CHURCH OF SARD IS. 201 

successful Christiau is to "shine as the sun in the 
kingdom of the Father" — not simply in what is 
put on from without, but also with the correspond- 
ing inner glorification of the whole being, like 
that which marked the Saviour on the mount of 
His transfiguration. 

But this is not all. The Saviour further adds: 
^^And I zvill not blot out his name out of the 
book of life. ' ' 

When any one submits to become a Christian, 
and receives baptism into the Christian common- 
wealth, his name is "written in heaven" as well 
as in the church-book on earth. There is a celes- 
tial roll-book of all those who name the name of 
Jesus. But it depends on the persevering fidelity 
of the individual whether his name is to continue 
on that roll or to be blotted out. There be many 
names once entered in that book which will not 
appear there at the final opening of it. There be 
many whose names were entered there when as 
infants they were given and dedicated to the l^ord 
who in after years refused to acknowledge and 
stand to that baptismal consecration, and whose 
names have long since been erased. There be 
many whose names were entered there as they 
gave themselves to be Christ's servants and vowed 
sacred allegiance to Him until death, but who 
have so fallen away from their engagements and 
duties that only blots remain where their names 



202 



THE LETTERS OF JESUS. 



once stood. There be many whose names once 
glowed with splendid promise in that book of life, 
but which the tears of the recording angel have 
expunged because of the apostasies and failures 
of those from whom so much better things were 
hoped. And it is a sadness unspeakable to think 
how man}' blots and erasures there are upon the 
books of heaven by reason of the failures of peo- 
ple who once were on the way of life, but dropped 
out before finishing their race. 

But there are names there which never shall be 
blotted out. They are registered as the true and 
faithful followers of the Lord, and such they will 
continue to the end. Though they should be — ~ 
stricken from all the rolls of honor and distinc- 
tion in this world, they will never be blotted from 
the Lamb's book of life. Stars may fail, rivers 
cease to flow, flowers fade, monuments of brass 
and marble perish, and names which once shook 
the world die out for ever, but the names of God's 
persevering saints shall stand in the register of the 
nobility of heaven, ever brighter and more illus- 
trious as the everlasting ages run. No works and 
merits of ours can write us in that book, but the 
all-sufficient grace of Jesus can. iVnd if we have 
sincerely embraced Him as our Lord and Saviour, 
and ever cleave to Him as our hope and strength, 
and continue steadfast in this faith, even our un- 
worthy names shall remain upon the book of life 



TO THE CHURCH OF SARDIS. 203 

as our title to the inheritance of the saints in 
light. 

So far from blotting the name of the Christian 
victor from the book of life, Jesus further prom- 
ises, "/ will confess his name before my Father 
and before His holy angels^ He requires of us 
that we confess Him before men. It pertains to 
true discipleship publicly to espouse Christ's name 
and cause in the midst of this gainsaying world, 
and not to be ashamed of the testimony of our 
Lord. It is the least that we should ever think 
of doing for Him who has done so much for us. 
It is the soldier's greatest shame not to stand 
courageously to his colors. But Christ in turn 
engages to confess us, to espouse our cause, and 
to acknowledge knd stand for us before God and 
all the dignitaries of heaven. 

It is something to have one's name introduced 
to the favorable consideration of kings and high 
potencies, and the higher the dignity and influ- 
ence of the person presenting us and vouching for 
us the sublimer is the honor. There is therefore 
a largeness and blessedness in this promise far be- 
yond what we might on first hearing suppose. It 
means that the very Son of God, to whom all au- 
thority and power in heaven and on earth is given, 
proposes to present us to the eternal Father as His 
acknowledged friends, for whom He vouches and 
for whom He stands, as candidates for enthrone- 



204 



THE LETTERS OE JESUS. 



ment amid the princedoms and sublime fellow- 
ships of the heavenly regencies. 

And great will be the difference between the 
names which Jesus will confess in heaven and 
those which figure so largely in the hearing and an- 
nals of men in this world. How many whom popes 
have canonized and crowds have worshipped will 
then fail to be mentioned! How many names that 
have floated down the ages and sounded in end- 
less echoes along the corridors of time as those of 
the noble, the mighty, the beautiful, and the brave 
will never once be pronounced or heard in heaven! 
And how many never known beyond the humblest 
circles, and never once heard of on earth, shall 
suddenly come forward to honorable notice as the 
heirs of eternal dominions to share with Jesus in 
the kingdom prepared by the Father before the 
world was! Yes, many names of which all the 
books and all the newspapers and all the utter- 
ances of men now are full shall never once be 
named there, while others which, like violets by 
the roadside or like roses in the wilderness, have 
quite escaped all observation, or which perchance 
were known only to be contemned and cast out as 
evil, shall be brought forth as the worthiest and 
noblest that ever have been worn in this world, 
and live in sublimer fame for all the everlasting 
ages than those of the Solomons, the Alexanders, 
the Csesars, and the Napoleons in earthly history. 



TO THE CHURCH OF SARDIS. 205 

There are names now upon no books on earth 
but the church-records of some humble congrega- 
tions which shall then turn out among the high- 
est in the records of the redeemed. There are 
names of which their owners are half ashamed, 
and which they never hear pronounced without 
a degree of confusion as if too uncouth and un- 
worthy to be spoken; but if those who have them 
will be true and faithful to their Lord and Sa- 
viour, and hold out steadfast in their lowly 
spheres, Jesus will confess them in the Court of 
heaven, and clothe them with an honor in which 
they will shine illustrious for ever. 

Dear friends, these are very wonderful things, 
but as true and sure as they are wonderful. Our 
blessed Lord Himself hath spoken them from 
heaven, and well do they deserve our careful and 
believing notation. Not without the most ample 
reason does He add here also the admonitory 
words: tliat hatJi an car^ let him hear zvhat 

the Spirit saith iinto the churchesy It is Jesus 
who speaks, and it is for us to pay the most rev- 
erent attention to what comes so direct from the 
lips of the King. Matters of the weightiest and 
highest concernment of every man, and especially 
every Christian, are here brought to our contem- 
plation, and we do but disable and dwarf ourselves 
by not devoutly taking them to heart. If we are 



2o6 



THE LETTERS OF JESUS. 



dull and dead in our profession, here is the divine 
direction what to do about it. If we find the bat- 
tle hard, the trials heavy, the adversities severe, 
and the whole tendency of things against us, here 
is the word to strengthen and encourage us. The 
strife faithfully maintained will have a glorious 
issue. The harder the fight, the higher is the 
heaven to be won. The heavier the cross, the 
brighter the crown. For the spirit of heaviness 
come the garments of praise. For our confession 
of Christ in lowliness will be His confession of us 
before the Father and His holy angels. We have 
only to hear and heed and press courageously on, 
and we need not fear for the result. And when 
the time comes that the books are opened and the 
records of the book of life are read out, our names 
shall be found written in it to our everlasting joy 
and honor. 

" Behold," saith the Saviour, " I give unto you 
power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over 
all the power of the enemy; and nothing shall by 
any means hurt you. Notwithstanding, in this 
rejoice not, that the spirits are subject to you; but 
rather rejoice because your names are written in 
heaven^^ (lyuke lo : 19, 20). 



Rev. 3 : 7-1 1 : "And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia 
write : These things saith He that is holy, He that is true, He that hath 
the key of David, He that openeth, and no man shutteth ; and shut- 
teth, and no man openeth : I know thy works : behold, I have set be- 
fore thee an open door, and no man can shut it : for thou hast a little 
strength, and hast kept My word, and hast not denied My name. Be- 
hold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are 
Jews, and are not, but do lie ; behold, I will make them to come and 
worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee. Because 
thou hast kept the word of My patience, I also will keep thee from the 
hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them 
that dwell upon the earth. Behold, I come quickly : hold that fast 
which thou hast, that no man take thy crown." 



0MB have the idea that there was nothing 
faulty in connection with the church in 
Philadelphia, and that its professed mem- 
bers, though weak and poor, were all worthy and 
commendable Christians. This doubtless was true 
with respect to the persons included in the Sa- 
viour's commendation, but I am persuaded it is 
a mistake when accepted as covering the whole 
case. 

If the entire professed church in Philadelphia 
was in such a good condition spiritually, it was 
an exception to all other known churches; and so 
is also named at the wrong place in this list, for 

207 



208 THE LETTERS OF JESUS. 

the order of succession is that of orrowinor dete- 
rioration. The few weak ones here so tenderly 
commended by the Saviour are plainly but a fee- 
ble and depressed fraction of the general body of 
Philadelphians professing to be Christians. There 
is also a distinct reference to another and more 
influential class, from whom these few poor saints 
were suffering much, and whom the Saviour de- 
scribes as "those which say they are Jews, and 
are not, but do lie." Who were these? If the}^ 
were literal born Jews, adhering to their own syn- 
agogue, distinct and apart from the professed 
Church of Christ, it is hard to conceive why the 
Saviour w^ould say that they were not Jews and 
that their profession was a lie. The implication 
also is that if these false ones had been true Jews, 
as they professed and claimed to be, Christ could 
and would have approved and commended them 
the same as the others; whereas this was not pos- 
sible unless they had been at the same time con- 
fessing believers in Him. If the question lay 
simply between being pseudo-Jews and Jews of 
the true natural blood of Abraham, Jesus could 
no more acknowledge them in the one ease than 
in the other apart from Christian faith and pro- 
fession; so that we are obliged to consider them 
professing Christians. 

It must be borne in mind that a large number 
of the Christians of those days, in most places, 



TO THE CHURCH OF PHILADELPHIA. 20g 

were of Jewish blood. Even Paul, the great 
apostle of the Gentiles, nearly always began with 
the Jews, and his first converts were almost inva- 
riably from among the Jews. A distinction thus 
came to be made between believing or baptized 
Jews and those who stood out in opposition to 
the Christian faith. Those who believed and 
were baptized were considered the right Jews — the 
Jews of the true and saving circumcision of the 
heart — the Jews who were the only Jews in real- 
ity, because they entered into the real faith and 
spirit of the covenant with believing Abraham; 
while all others were regarded as spurious Jews, 
because, while holding to the shell of the ancient 
faith, they were in fact apostates from the cove- 
nant of promise. Hence to profess Christianity 
was to profess to be the true and only proper Jews 
according to the genuine spirit and import of the 
promise to Abraham's seed. This was the doc- 
trine then held. 

Accordingly, also, Paul wrote to the Romans 
that "He is not a Jew which is one outwardly; 
neither is that circumcision which is outward in 
the flesh; but he is a Jew c. a right Jew] which 
is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the 
heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose 
praise is not of men, but of God." So also he 
wrote to the Galatians: "If ye be Christ's, then 
are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the 

14 



210 



THE LETTERS OF JESUS. 



promise." And had these people been ever so 
true Jews without being Christians, it is not pos- 
sible that Christ could have acknowledged and 
commended them as belonging to His Church. 

Those, therefore, whom the Saviour here cha- 
racterizes as professing to be Jews, but whose pro- 
fession was a lie, could be none other than persons 
who professed Christianity, but whose profession 
was false — so false that He condemns them as a 
very "synagogue of Satan." The whole de- 
scription shows that they were the chief body of 
professed Christians in Philadelphia — people who 
had things largely in their own control, but were 
only self-deceivers, hypocrites, and liars, so far 
departed from all genuine Christianity and so 
destitute of faith and charity as to be in reality 
the children of the Bvil One — an apostate crew, 
not at all entitled to place in the congregation of 
believers. 

To confess Christ, to accept baptism into His 
name, and to take upon us the confession of 
Christianity are necessary. We cannot be rated 
as true Christians without these. But mere pro- 
fession is not enough. We must inwardly be and 
live what we profess. We must be hearty, true, 
and consistent in our profession. We must be 
Christians in reality, and not only in name and 
claim, in order to have place in Christ's acknow- 
ledgment and regard. And it is a sad fact that 



TO THE CHURCH OF PHILADELPHIA. 211 

there be many who make loud and confident claim 
of being Christians, putting down all others as far 
beneath them, while their hearts are not at all 
right; and Christ refuses to acknowledge them as 
any real part of His Church. Though professedly 
Christians beyond all Christians, in the view of 
Heaven they are nothing but a synagogue of Sa- 
tan, having neither part nor lot with Christ's true 
people. It is strange that it should be so; that 
men should so impose upon themselves; that any 
could be so lost to all right sensibility and honesty 
as to vaunt themselves as Christians while really 
the children of the devil. But so it was in this 
church of Philadelphia, and so it has been over 
and over again in all the Christian ages; nay, 
there is every reason for us all to search our- 
selves well to make sure that such is not our 
own case. 

So, then, this church in Philadelphia, taken as 
a whole according to profession, was by far the 
worst in the list thus far. In Hphesus there was 
a cooling of first love, which is the beginning and 
source of all that is bad in Christian declension. 
When the fervor of divine love is gone, the way 
is open for every other bad development and ill 
growth. But it was there only a cooling of love. 
There were some bad practices and some false 
apostles, but they were vigorously resisted and 
discipline was maintained. 



212 



THE LETTERS OF JESUS. 



In Smyrna there were falsifiers who had grown 
into blasphemers and lying perverters of the truth, 
who showed that they were of the Satanic school. 
But they were few and had obtained no standing 
or control in the church. In Pergamos bad deeds 
had grown into corrupt doctrines. Errors of life 
had come to a place in the creed, and falsities be- 
gan to appear in the place of power and control. 
The church and the world began to be friends 
and to intermarry, and the proper distinctness of 
the church began to be obscured. In Thyatira 
matters had become still worse. Devil-oracles, 
sanctioning, teaching, and justifying evil deeds, 
here found lodgment and place as divine proph- 
ecies, and many Christians were betrayed and de- 
ceived into the basest uncleannesses under the 
guise of knowing "the depths of Satan" and 
triumphing over him by doing his works. In 
Sardis living faith had come to an almost uni- 
versal deadness, so that there were but ' ' a few 
names" left which had not defiled their gar- 
ments. The Christian profession had been main- 
tained, and there was much formal devotion, but 
the true spirit of faith had largely departed. The 
church for the most part had become a mere car- 
cass, beautiful and impressive in external form, 
with plenty of showy power, winning for it an 
imposing name, but without life and spiritually 
dead. 



TO THE CHURCH OF PHILADELPHIA. 21 3 

And here in Philadelphia an utterly false Chris- 
tianity had so far usurped the place of the true 
that the most influential part of the church could 
no more be tolerated as at all belonging to the 
Church of Christ, but was turned into a very 
synagogue of Satan, overriding, oppressing, and 
proudly casting out of all sympathy those who 
alone could be regarded as proper Christians. 

It is a melancholy thing to have a name to live 
and yet be dead or dying, but it is a still worse 
thing to be alive, active, and potential in what is 
so contrary to Christ under name and pretence of 
being the lyord's people. Yet to such deceptions 
may men persuade themselves, vaunting as pre- 
eminent children of God while utterly disowned 
of Christ as none of His. And to this condition 
had the main body of these Philadelphians re- 
duced themselves. 

But there still were some whom the Saviour 
could and did acknowledge. They were poor, 
inconsiderable, and at a great disadvantage, but 
they were believing and true. The pastor seems 
to have been a weak man and not much esteemed 
by some of his people, but he was strong enough 
in faith and principle not to be carried away or 
silenced by the prevailing majority. He knew 
the truth, and held it and preached it, though it 
met with no favorable response or sympathy from 
the most of his flock. The humbler and poorer 



214 



THE LETTERS OE JESUS. 



ones believed and held with him, but the rest ac- 
cepted only so much as they liked, held to more 
liberal ideas, and frowned upon those who were 
so simple as to take what was taught them as true 
gospel. But it was true gospel, nevertheless; and 
the very titles under which the Saviour presents 
Himself to this church of Philadelphia presup- 
pose some such state of things as I have de- 
scribed. 

I. Notice these Titi.es. 

"These things saith He that is holy^^ — more lit- 
erally, ' ' the Holy One " — He who is absolute holi- 
ness in Himself This identifies Christ as God, 
for it would be blasphemy in any mere man or 
angel so to speak of himself. But the assump- 
tion of this title here looks to some unsanctity in 
the people of Philadelphia with which the Holy 
One is inherently and eternally at war. 

^^He that is true^^ — not only true as the truth- 
lover and the truth-speaker, but the Truth itself-— 
He in whom all truth has its highest and only 
perfect realization. This again identifies Christ 
as God. He could not so claim for Himself if 
He were not God. But the putting of this title 
forward here points to some intense falsity con- 
templated in this Letter, and which He is about 
to treat as absolute truth demands. 

''He that hath the key of David that is, the 



TO THE CHURCH OF PHILADELPHIA. 2I5 

key of the divine kingdom to open or shut beyond 
all other power to reverse it. Such a presentation 
points to some blasphemous usurpations, some put- 
ting of the ban where there was no right to put it, 
some claim of liberty or authority to open and 
.shut. There was wrong somewhere to be reversed 
and righted, and an assumption of place, preroga- 
tive, or power which was not according to Christ. 
And hence Christ declares that He has the key — 
that He will do the opening and the shutting. 

All this answers precisely to the representation 
I have given, that a large part of the professed 
church at Philadelphia was presumptuously im- 
perious in its apostasy and lying pretensions. 

II. Notice the encouragements given. 

''''Behold^ I have set before thee an open door^ 
and no man can shut ity The emphasis is on 
the /, and the clear implication is that some 
strong human activity was at work to silence 
these people or to set them back from their right- 
ful place and influence. The announcement is 
one of encouragement and blessed promise to 
them. Though men were trying to suppress 
them and break them down from proclaiming 
and propagating what they held and believed, 
the mighty Jesus was with them. He who has 
the ke}'S of the kingdom was on their side. He 
who opens and shuts beyond all power of man to 



2l6 



THE LETTERS OF JESUS. 



make it otherwise, was there to order the course 
of events, pledging to keep the door open for 
them in spite of all efforts to hinder or restrain 
them. 

^^Thou hast little strength^ There was much 
weakness, so much that they were held to be of 
little or no account. It was not so much that 
their strength was unacknowledged, but that it 
did not exist. Yet in all their weakness and in- 
significance they had been faithful: ^^Thou hast 
kept My ivord^ and hast not deiiied My name^ 
The particular word which they had kept, and 
which others denied, is indicated in the tenth 
verse. Jesus there says, ^^Thon hast kept the 
word of My patience y The word of Christ's 
patience is not only the word of Christ in gen- 
eral, bnt a more particular word — His word wuth 
a special reference. Christ's patience is His for- 
bearance with the wicked. His restraint of sum- 
mary judgment upon their misdeeds and blas- 
phemies. His keeping of silence for the time 
under the manifold insults and persecutions ren- 
dered to Him and His Church, until the time 
comes for Him to ascend the throne of judgment 
and to reward transgressors according to their 
works. Such a day is coming. God hath ap- 
pointed it. It is a day that shall burn as an 
oven, and all the wicked shall be consumed as 
stubble. It is described as the time when our 



TO THE CHURCH OF PHILADELPHIA. 21/ 

God shall no longer keep silence, but shall come 
with the voice of the archangel and the trump of 
God to gather all His faithful ones to Himself and 
to tread the winepress of almighty wrath upon all 
the children of disobedience. And the word of 
His patience can be no other w^ord than that of 
His Gospel with respect to that impending day, 
when He shall come .to rectify all present disor- 
ders and to render to every one according to his 
works. 

The keeping of this word of Christ's patience 
of course includes the keeping of the entire Gos- 
pel, but that Gospel as more especially related to 
His present waiting and forbearance with the 
wicked till the time for Him to arise and judge 
the earth — the keeping up of the faith and hope 
of the Saviour's return, the building of our cal- 
culations on it, the conditioning of our behavior 
with reference to it, the comforting of our souls 
in it, and the fearless confession and preaching of 
it as the blessed hope of the saints. 

And with such a keeping of the word of Christ's 
patience the Saviour here credits these poor peo- 
ple as over against their self-consequential con- 
temners, who only ridiculed and despised such 
ideas and teachings. The cherishing of the ad- 
vent hope and faith was the central point in their 
whole Christian character, the highest element of 
their piety, the chief particular noted in the Sa- 



2l8 



THE LETTERS OF JESUS. 



vionr's commendation of them. They had kept 
His word, and above all the word of His pa- 
tience^ bearing, forbearing, and holding on in 
steadfast waiting and looking for the coming 
again of the lyOrd Jesns, when all their wrongs 
shonld be righted, their confidence vindicated, 
and all their blessed expectations fulfilled. 

And for this, the special favors of Him who is 
the Holy One, the absolute Truth, and the Pos- 
sessor of all the keys and powers of the kingdom, 
were vouchsafed and promised unto them. 

Weak and despised as they were, the door was 
to be kept open for them. ]Men might try to shut 
it, but never should succeed in so doing. Christ 
pledged that He would keep them in place and 
opportunity, no matter what efforts might be 
made to decry them or to silence their testimony. 
They might be held in discredit, contemned, as- 
sailed, and denounced, but Jesus engaged to see 
that they should not be displaced, pulled down, 
or shut out from position and hearing for their 
cause. He tells them that He who holds the keys 
has set an open door before them which no power 
of man should be able to close. 

Furthermore, with all their weakness and dis- 
advantages their cause was to carry in the end. 
The time was to come when even their opposers 
and oppressors would come to them in deep hu- 
miliation to worship at their feet and to confess 



TO THE CHURCH OF PHILADELPHIA. 219 

that theirs was the true cause of God. The prom- 
ise meant that the time would come when these 
haughty despisers in Philadelphia would be com- 
pelled to humble themselves to these poor saints, 
and to confess them after all the true servants and 
favorites of the I^ord. They were on the winning 
side, and their holding on firmly amid ridicule 
and detraction was to make of them the very 
princes of the Lord of hosts. Not by their 
strength and eloquence, not by their merit and 
deservings, but by the power and grace of Him 
who holds all the keys and powers of the king- 
dom, they were to be brought to honor for hold- 
ing fast the word of His patience. 

Nay more : ' '/ will keep thee from the hour of 
te^nptation zvhich shall come tpoji all the worldy 
There is a time of tribulation coming more severe 
than has ever been in all the ages. The preliba- 
tions of it were experienced under the plagues of 
Bgypt in the days of Moses and during the period 
in which Jerusalem came to its final desolations. 
These were the beg-innino^s of the sorrows and 
trials yet to come on all the unholy dwellers upon 
earth from one end of it to the other. Christ calls 
it " the hour of teinptation^^^ or trial. It will be a 
brief period, but one of consummated distress and 
sorrow. It is further spoken of in this book as 
" the tribulation^ the great one^^^ when all the 
tribes of the earth shall mourn, and judgments 



220 



THE LETTERS OE JESUS. 



Upon judgments the most appalling shall fall upon 
all the children of disobedience. But from these 
plagues and troubles the Saviour here pledged to 
save all who keep the word of His patience: " Be- 
cause thou hast kept the word of My patience, I 
also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, 
which shall come upon all the world, to try them 
that dwell upon the earth." 

Nor can there be any doubt as to the way in 
which He will fulfil this promise. When He was 
upon earth He gave command to His people, say- 
ing, "Take heed to yourselves, lest at any time 
your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and 
drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so. that 
day come upon you unawares; for as a snare shall 
it come on all them that dwell on the face of the 
whole earth. Watch ye therefore, and pray always, 
that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these 
things that shall come to pass^ and to stand before 
the Son of nian''^ (Ivuke 21:34-36). Again, He 
said respecting that same time, "There shall be 
two in one bed; the one shall be taken, and the 
other shall be left. Two shall be grinding to- 
gether; the one shall be taken, and the other left. 
Two shall be in the field; the one shall be taken, 
and the otlier left." And when the question was 
asked whither these should be "taken," He an- 
swered, to where the body is; that is, to wdiere 
He Himself shall then be, as Paul also explains: 



TO THE CHURCH OF PHILADELPHIA: 221 



' ' We ' ' — the true and watching believers — ' ' which 
are alive and remain shall be caught up to meet 
the Lord in the air" (I^uke 17:34-37; i Thess. 
14:18). 

The way, then, in which Christ's true and 
faithful followers, eagerly waiting for His com- 
ing again, are to be kept from the hour of trial 
and saved from the woes of the great tribulation 
is by being translated, caught up to heaven, trans- 
ferred from earth to the presence of their Lord, 
before the great trial strikes the guilty world. 
And for this the Scriptures everywhere teach us 
to look and wait and watch and hope, thus hold- 
ing fast the word of Christ's patience, sure that 
if we are thus dutiful and true no fires of judg- 
ment shall ever fall upon us, and when the wicked 
are cut off we shall see it — see it from the pavil- 
ion of our security in heaven. 

And yet, again, if these poor despised people 
would only hold fast what they had, they were 
to be crowned as eternal kings: ^^Hold that fast 
which thou hast^ that no man take thy crowns It 
is no mere figure of speech, but the truest and 
deepest reality, when the promises speak of in- 
heriting the kingdom, wearing crowns, and reign- 
ing with Christ for ever and ever. John had a 
vision of the whole thing when he beheld the 
indescribable Sitter upon the throne, and round 
about four-and-twenty other thrones, and upon 



222 



THE LETTERS OF JESUS. 



them foiir-and-twenty elders seated, clothed in 
white raiment and having on their heads crowns 
of gold. And again he saw thrones, and they sat 
npon them, and power to rule was given unto 
them, and they lived and reigned with Christ. 

Dear friends, this is not mere poetry; it is truth. 
It is not mere pictorial show; it is substantial real- 
ity. In the regeneration those who have followed 
Christ faithfully shall sit on thrones; and wdren the 
Chief Shepherd shall appear they shall receive a 
croivn of glory that fadeth not away. It is a tran- 
scendent promise, but He who makes it is the 
Truth itself, and has the keys and powers to ful- 
fil it, and will certainly make it good. The poor- 
est, weakest, and most despised saint on earth may 
yet become an immortal king. There is a crown 
for him if he will but hold fast the word of Christ's 
patience amid the wrongs and trials to which he 
is here subjected. 

It will not be long. Jesus says: ''Behold, I 
come quickly: hold fast that which thou hast, 
that no man take thy crown." That crown is 
sure to every one if we will but aim for it, con- 
tinue as we have begun, and hold the beginning 
of our confidence steadfast unto the end. For 
this Christ suffered, and died, and ever lives in 
eternal power, and soon the day of His patience 
will be over and the glory of His kingdom be re- 
vealed. Eighteen hundred years ago the faithful 



TO THE CHURCH OF PHILADELPHIA. 223 

apostle Paul prayed for the Christians of Thessa- 
lonica: "The lyord direct your hearts into the 
love of God, and into a patient waiting for 
Christ." And this is just what we all need, that 
we "may be found of Him in peace, without spot, 
and blameless." Falsities may be thick around 
us, but we must hold fast, looking for and hasting 
unto the day when deliverance shall come and 
glorious triumph. Some may sneer and hold us 
in disrepute because of our doctrine and our hope, 
but Jesus bids us hold it fast, and pledges to us 
support and protection in our fidelity, an open 
door in this world and an unfading crown in the 
world to come. 



ilecture jfourtenirij. 




Rev. 3:12, 13 : " Ilim that overcometh, will I make a pillar in the 
temple of My God, and he shall go no more out : and I will write upon 
him the name of My God, and the name of the city of My God, which 
is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from My God : 
and I will write upon him My new name. He that hath an ear, let 
him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches." 

DISTINGUISHED preacher has said, 
' ' There is such a collection of glories 
gathered together around the head of this 
Philadelphia church, that I fear lest I should lose 
myself in the admiration of their much splendor, 
and forget the soberness of mind which beseemeth 
the interpreter of God's holy word." Some of 
these glories, as realized in this world, have 
already been noticed; but far greater glories, 
promised to the faithful in the world to come, 
are now to be considered. And may God help us 
to treat of them with that reverent and thoughtful 
soberness which such momentous things demand! 

Varied and great is the glory of the promises 
to the victors in these seven I<etters of our Lord. 
A full and exhaustive treatment of them would 
fill a volume. They set before us a portion for 

224 



TO THE CHURCH OF FHJTA DELPHIA. 22$ 

Christ's faithful overcomers at which the lean, 
shadowy, and empty thing which some talk of as 
heaven sinks into insipidity and contempt. They 
give us something the soul can take hold of, some- 
thing substantial and tangible to think of, some- 
thing fitted to our nature and aspirations, and of 
a sort to brace up courage manfully to bear the 
cross that may be laid upon us in this life. 

We saw in our last that there is increased evil- 
ness in the successive presentations of the seven 
churches, the first being the best, and each one in 
its order being a stage or degree deeper in defec- 
tion than the one before it. But there is likewise 
a gradation in these promises. Whether the dif- 
ferent grades refer to seven orders of saintship or 
to seven degrees in the rewards of the saints, or 
to both, there is a distinct rising from glory in the 
first to higher glory in the second, and so on to 
the highest in the last. To the Ephesian victor 
Christ awards restoration to lost paradise, giving 
him "to eat from off the tree of life which is in 
the midst of the paradise of God." To him who 
remained faithful under the Sm}rna trials is 
awarded "the crowm of life" and exemption 
from the second death. To the victor of Per- 
gamos is awarded "the hidden manna, and a 
white gem engraved with a new name which no 
one knoweth saving he that receiveth it." The 
victor of Thyatira is to have authority over the 

15 



226 



THE LETTERS OF JESUS. 



nations, to rule them with a sceptre of iron, and 
to possess ' ' the morning star. ' ' The victor in 
Sardis has promise of being "clothed in white 
raiment," to walk with Christ in white, to have 
his name retained in the book of life, and to be 
confessed by Christ before the Father and His 
holy angels. And so there is a still ampler and 
more manifold promise to the victor of Phila- 
delphia. 

Let us, then, note these particulars and en- 
deavor to grasp the depth of their meaning for 
our edification and encouragement in fighting 
the good fight of faith. 

First Itkm : ' ^Him that overcometh will I make 
a pillar in the temple of My God^ and he shall go 
no more out, ' ' 

The overcomer here, as in each of the seven 
Epistles, is the true Christian who holds out 
faithful to the end against such falsities, errors, 
evils, and temptations as he may have had to 
contend with — the true believer, who continues 
steadfast in his or her faith, and is found waiting 
and ready when the Lord comes — and specially 
includes such as keep the word of Christ's pa- 
tience in humble waiting for His return to right 
all present wrongs and to bring His true people 
to their final rewards. And to these overcomers 
the promise here is that Christ will make them 
pillars in the temple of God. 



rO THE CHURCH OF PHILADELPHIA. 22/ 

But what is the temple thus coutemplated ? In 
one sense there is no lemple in heaven, and yet in 
another there is. There will be no movable tem- 
ple like that erected by Moses. There will be no 
material and perishable fixed temple like the one 
built by Solomon. In his vision of the New Je- 
rusalem, John says: "I saw no temple therein." 
And yet there was a temple, nevertheless, for he 
immediately adds: " The Lord God Almighty and 
the Lamb are the temple of it." It is hard for us 
to conceive of such high things, but in some sense 
God and the Lamb are a temple to the finally re- 
deemed, where the Saviour and the saved come 
together in ineffable communion, compassed about 
by infinite Godhead as a grand eternal temple-en- 
closure. Meeting, union, worship, oneness, deep- 
est fellowship, hidden in the mysteries, light, and 
undisturbed manifestations and enjoyments of God 
and our Saviour, are the main ideas. And into 
this holy temple the Christian victor is to come as 
a worshipper, to drink in of this ineffable light, 
and to share the fulness of this unspeakable be- 
atitude. 

Nor only as a worshipper, but as a perpetual 
dweller, shall the Christian victor come into the 
heavenly temple; for " shall go no more oiUy 
The temple and the worship and the blessedness 
and the continuance in it are alike perpetual. As 
Christ dwells in the Father, so we are to dwell in 



228 ' THE LETTERS OF JESUS. 



Him, with the union and the glory indissoluble 
for ever. The priests of the earthly temple served 
by courses. Each course served its time, and then 
went out. " " They truly were many priests, be- 
cause they were not suffered to continue by reason 
of death." But it shall not be so with the Chris- 
tian victor in the eternal temple. Like his Lord, 
"he continueth ever," and his priesthood passeth 
not from one to another, for death, infirmity, or 
need for suspension in the holy service is departed. 
No sickness shall prostrate him, no labor exhaust 
his energies, no lapse of time waste his strength, 
no cause come in for the cessation of the blessed 
communion. Sweet was the life of our first pa- 
rents in Paradise, but the time came when they 
had to leave it and go out to moisten the desert 
world with their sweat and tears, and find graves 
under its sod. But from that more glorious para- 
dise restored by the heroism of our blessed Lord 
there shall be no more such failures, no more such 
going out. The temple is eternal, the anthems 
never cease, the worship is never suspended, and 
the communion is everlasting. 

Xor yet as only a permanent dweller in the 
heavenly temple, but as a pillar in it, shall the 
Christian victor abide. 

Pillars are for strength, support, ornament, and 
commemoration. They are part of the edifice in 
which they have place. The derivation of the 



TO THE CHURCH OF PHILADELPHIA. 22g 

word in Hebrew and Greek seems to contemplate 
power, dignity, and glory. The Church is called 
the pillar, support, and upholder of the truth, to 
give it conspicuity and to keep it in the view of 
men. Peter, James, and John are spoken of as 
seeming "pillars" of the Church; that is, its 
most conspicuous members and strongest sup- 
ports. And so the victorious saints are to be 
pillars in the eternal temple, to have place as a 
part of it. As God and the Lamb are the temple, 
they are to be joined to God and the lyamb and 
stand in and with them for ever as dignities, orna- 
ments, and everlasting commemorations of re- 
deeming love and grace, sharing in all the honor 
and glory of that temple and in the upholding 
and administration of its services. 

God honors His faithful people by resting much 
of the burden and exhibit of His Name and work 
upon them already in this world, but a thousand- 
fold more in the world to come. Man was origin- 
ally made to be the expression or image of God 
in the lordship and governing of His earthly cre- 
ations. What was lost by sin is recovered in still 
higher forms by redemption. And when the 
grand restoration is complete and the eternal 
economies to which redemption looks shall come 
into place, all glorious with the divine presence, 
teeming with divine goodness, and working all 
the divine pleasure, these trophies of grace shall 



230 



THE LETTERS OF JESUS. 



have place in them as pillars in a celestial temple, 
bearing up its excellent estate, preserving and ad- 
ministering its order, showing forth its glory, and 
sharing in all its blessed service. 

And there their place shall ever be. The}' 
shall never move or be severed from the eternal 
fabric. Other pillars may crumble and fall; the 
strongest and most admired columns mav waste 
and disappear; the gates of Thebes, the Pyramids 
of Egypt, and the mightiest architectural monu- 
ments in the world may be erased from their 
places; the very pillars of the earth may be dis- 
solved; but these pillars, which Christ is engaged 
in building and fashioning amid these years of 
time, borrowing immortality from decay and 
splendor from surrounding darkness, shall stand 
in everlasting strength, beauty, and dignity in 
the imperishable temple of God and the lyanib. 

Second Item : ' '/ ivill write upon him the name 
of My Gody 

Though Christ is God, yet as Christ He has a 
God and Father, who through Him is also our 
God and Father. The name of that God is 
already put upon us in holy baptism, but it is 
not so engraved upon us that it may not be rub- 
bed off and cease to be of the significance intended. 
We are only probationers here, candidates for sub- 
limer prizes when this world is over. And among 



TO THE CHURCH OF PHILADELPHIA. 23 1 

these future honors and dignities is the permanent 
engraving upon the final victor of the name of 
God in all the virtues and immunities which that 
name can be to an immortal man. 

The high priest under the law wore a plate of 
gold on his forehead, on which there was in- 
scribed, "HOUNKSS UNTO THE lyORD. " It pro-, 
claimed his dignity and sacredness — his divine 
consecration to ' ' bear the iniquity of the holy 
things which the children of Israel should hal-, 
low in all their holy gifts." The same was to be 
"always upon his forehead, that they might be 
accepted before the Lord. ' ' All this pointed pri- 
marily to Jesus Christ as our great High Priest, 
Sin-bearer, and Intercessor, but likewise also to 
some eternal consecration of the glorified saints 
as they are finally joined to the heavenly temple 
as priests of God. ' ' It doth not yet appear what 
we shall be; but we know that, when He shall 
appear, we shall be like Him; for we shall see 
Him as He is." 

We are greatly at a loss upon themes so lofty. 
We see only as through a glass darkly. We know 
only in part. But it is written of the favored in- 
habitants of that place where the throne of God 
and of the Lamb shall be, that they shall serve 
God and see His face, ' ' and His Name shall be in 
their foreheads y The dignity of high priesthood, 
the freedom of unobstructed access to the divine 



232 THE LETTERS OF JESUS. 

presence, the privilege of looking upon God's 
face, and all the liberties and prerogatives of 
admission into the holiest apartments of the eter- 
nal temple are certainly implied. As there is 
nothing which the Name of God does not com- 
mand or to which it does not admit, so the en- 
graving of that Name upon the people of the 
Church of the first-born means a guarantee to 
them of the freedom of all the realm and dwell- 
ing-place of God as His acknowledged priests and 
princes, consecrated for the sublimest offices and 
services of the world to come. 

Third Item: ^^And I zvill iviHte upojt him the 
7iame of the city of My God^ ivhich is Nezv Je^m- 
salem^ zvhich cometh dozvn out of heaven from My 
Gody 

There is a modern sect, heretical as to some of 
the fundamental doctrines of the faith, and offen- 
sively schismatical as to the proper Church of 
Christ, which has presumptuously and against 
all right appropriated to itself the title of the 
New Jerusalem, claiming that their few modern 
coteries are the true nucleus, centre, and begin- 
ning of this sublime city which cometh down 
from God out of heaven. Unfortunately for the 
sober truthfulness of any such claim, this so-called 
New Jerusalem began on earth, sprang from a 
half-demented nobleman of the earth, who, to 



TO THE CHURCH OF PHILADELPHIA. 233 

his credit, never attempted such an organization, 
which is altogether of the earth, if not largely 
from under it. With righteous indignation at 
such falsifications of God's holy word, and at 
pretensions which savor more of the beast cov- 
ered with names of blasphemy than of the in- 
spiration of God which is claimed for them, I 
warn all whom I can reach and influence to be- 
ware of the subtle and good-seeming perversions 
of the truth by which the father of lies would 
thus deceive, if possible, the very elect. 

The New Jerusalem, the city of God, coming 
down out of heaven from God and having the 
glory of God, is not an earthly sect, and the 
Church of the true New Jerusalem is not an 
organization of mortal men voicing the vagaries 
of a diseased imagination as the infallible sup- 
plements of the Word of inspired prophets and 
apostles. The New Jerusalem, God's city, where- 
in is the throne of God and the I^amb and the 
issuing waters of life, is a thing of the heavens, 
God-built and depending for its revelation on the 
personal coming again of the I^ord Jesus to recall 
from death the sleeping bodies of His saints and 
fashion them like unto His own glorious body; 
all of which, in every tenable sense, is totally 
denied and condemned by the modern sect which 
proclaims itself the Church of the New Jerusalem. 

A city means a city, not a sect. The city 



234 



THE LETTERS OF JESUS. 



building on earth is Bab}'lon, whose end is de- 
struction; the city building in heaven is the true 
New Jerusalem, which does not come forth out 
of the brain of a Swedenborg, but is the embodi- 
ment of the glory of God, by Him constructed, 
by Him brought forth into its place, and pos- 
sessed only by " the children of the resurrection " 
when all of this present world is past. Abraham 
looked for a firmly-founded city whose maker and 
builder is God. Of the saints of old it stands 
written, "God hath prepared for them a city." 
The Christians of Paul's day sought for an abid- 
ing city in the world to come. John in his vis- 
ions beheld that city, that great city, the holy 
Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, 
with jewels for foundations, gates of pearl, streets 
of gold, angels for watchmen, and God and the 
Lamb for its temple and light, arrayed in crystal- 
line glory, in which the saved nations walk, into 
which nothing that is false or defiling ever enters, 
which only they inhabit who are written in the 
Lamb's book of life, and from which they shall 
reign for ever and ever. x\nd the name of that 
city of light and glory and manifested Godhead 
Jesus says He will write upon every one that 
overcometh, holding fast the word of His pa- 
tience. 

What all that means is more than imagination 
can conceive or words of man express. ]\Iany 



TO THE CHUkCH OF PHILADELPHIA. 235 

also may be the questions about it to which in our 
present clouded and earthy condition we can frame 
no clear answers. But there is yet to come forth 
from heaven a new and transcendent common- 
wealth, with a new and heavenly metropolis, 
where all the eternal administrations are to be 
centred in God and the I^amb, and to the full 
liberties of which, as the princes of the realm, 
every member of the Church of the first-born is 
to be sealed and acknowledged when the time for 
the fulfilment of these promises arrives. 

Man was made for heavenly citizenship, posses- 
sion, rule, and dominion. The universal pursuits 
of the world and the strongest temptations of the 
Church in its career on earth do constantly and 
mightily testify of this. And this great end of 
creation and redemption, and this unquenchable 
thirst of the human heart, are to find their con- 
summation in the kingdom to come, especially in 
its capital city, the New Jerusalem, which comxCth 
forth from God. And the name of that city is to 
be so engraven upon every victorious saint that 
there can be no more separation between him and 
it. His home, his reward, his sublime dignity, 
and his eternal joy are to be there, full in his pos- 
session for ever. Bven so, and so precious, is to 
be the portion of him who keeps the word of 
Christ's patience and comes off victor in these 
earthly strifes with error and sin. 



236 



THE LETTERS OF JESUS. 



Fourth Itkm: "/ will write tipoit hi^n My 
new 7ia7ney 

Believers bear the name of Christ now. They 
are baptized into His Name as the Christ, the Sin- 
bearer, the Redeemer, the true and anointed I^ord 
and Saviour, in whom all our hopes of forgiveness 
and eternal life inhere. Before He was born in 
time it was said, "Call His name Jesus, for He 
shall save His people from their sins." Nor will 
He ever lose or lay off this name, for it is ordained 
" that at the name of Jksus every knee shall bow, 
of things in heaven, and things in earth, and 
things under the earth, and every tongue confess 
that Jesus Christ is lyord, to the glory of God the 
Father." But in the final accomplishment of all 
this He will yet take on other names by which 
He is not now known. When He comes forth in 
His majesty, with all the armies of heaven follow- 
ing Him on white horses, for the final overthrow 
of the Beast and the false prophet. He shall have 
on His vesture and on His thigh a name written, 
"King ok kings, and I^ord of i.ords." At 
the same time He is also to have another name 
written, ' ' a name that no man knows but He 
Himself." Whether it is one of these names or 
some altogether " new name " that He is to en- 
grave upon His triumphant saints, we know not. 
This only we know, that the time is drawing on 
when our blessed I^ord shall take to Himself some 



TO THE CHURCH OF PHILADELPHIA. 237 

"new name" in connection with some unex- 
plained development in the completion of His 
grand redemptive purposes, and that He will 
write that name also upon His victorious saints, 
thereby uniting them with Himself for ever in 
whatever dignity, service, or glory that name 
shall signify. 

The riches in Christ Jesus, especially in the 
purposes and manifestations relating to the fin- 
ishing up of what is to come hereafter, have not 
yet been fully revealed. Transcendent things, 
and in plentiful sufficiency for all our present 
wants, have been made known to us. There is 
everything to enlist our faith, command our con- 
fidence, and inspire us with transporting hopes. 
But we do not yet know all. There is much be- 
yond which can only be learned and fully under- 
stood when the time for their revelation comes. 
Yet, whatever these future developments and mani- 
festations may be, or whatever unexplained atti- 
tudes our Saviour is yet to take in the ongoing of 
His purposes in eternity, the pledge here is given 
by Himself that His saints shall be joined with 
Him in all. As His present name is on us, seal- 
ing to us participation in all that He has achieved 
and is achieving, so whatever new name He shall 
assume in the future is likewise to be engraved on 
His faithful ones, identifying them with Himself 
in all. Wherever He is, there we are to be. 



238 THE LETTERS OF JESUS. 

Whatever He does, we shall have part in. And 
throughout all the eternal ages and administra- 
tions His name shall be our name also, and His 
lot likewise our lot; for our heirship is conjoint 
with His own to the eternal patrimony. 

Think of the mighty possibilities in the eternal 
career of Him to whom all power in heaven and 
earth is given! Think what undescribed demon- 
strations may yet be manifested in connection 
with the stupendous scheme of the redemption 
and regeneration of a fallen world, and what sub- 
lime ends in the vast universe the final accom- 
plishment of this masterpiece of the Almighty's 
doings may be intended to subserve! Think what 
in the grand purposes of God may be in contem- 
plation with reference to the future of this earth, 
or thousands of other worlds, or all the boundless 
realm of living beings of which Christ is to be 
the centre and the soul! Paul distinctly refers to 
a mysterious concorporation of worlds and a gath- 
ering together of all things in heaven and on earth 
in one sublime unity in Christ, and of eternal pur- 
poses in Christ Jesus our Lord affecting celestial 
principalities and powers, for which there must 
come exhibits on His part far beyond all present 
knowledge and anticipation. And yet in all these 
unsearchable cycles of manifestation and achieve- 
ment by our Christ the promise here is that the 
Church of the first-born, which is His everlasting 



TO THE CHURCH OF PHILADELPHIA. 239 

Bride, shall share with Him in the kingdom and 
the power and the glory; for His New Name is 
to be written on all His victorious people as par- 
ticipant in whatever destiny is before Him in all 
the ages of the ages. 

Verily, dear friends, Jesus has given us "ex- 
ceeding great and precious promises.'' In vain 
do we task ourselves to compass the vastness of 
their import. Imagination reels and falters, 
stunned and vanquished, amid the infinitudes 
of glory and blessedness which they open to 
our contemplation. 

And if such are to be the awards to faith in 
Jesus and close clinging to Him and His word 
and directions for the few years we have to live 
on earth, what is there in all the round of possi- 
ble things for which we would be justified in let- 
ting go our chance to reach them ? Well may 
Heaven speak out its intense sevenfold appeal: 
''^He that hath an ear to hear^ let him hear what 
the Spirit saith unto the churches^ God help us 
all to hear and heed, and hold fast the word of 
our Saviour's patience, that we may not miss a 
destiny so exalted and which has cost our dear 
Lord so much! 



^Lttmt jFifteentl). 



Rev. 3 : 14 : "And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans 
write: These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true Witness, the 
beginning of the creation of God." 




E now come to the last of these seven 
Letters of our Lord. Let us then give 
attention with prayerfuhiess of heart and 
desire to profit. It is our wish to be in accord 
with the mind and will of our Saviour. What 
is wrong in us we desire to have corrected. We 
are anxious to be true Christians, .that when the 
Master comes we may be found of Him without 
spot and blameless. We know ourselves to be 
set in the midst of so many trials, temptations, 
and dangers that we would gladly have some 
words of comfort, direction, and encouragement 
from Jesus Himself, that we may be helped and 
assured in our faith and led into the path of se- 
curity and eternal life. Nowhere, however, can 
we find what we need more beautifulh' set forth 
than in these Letters from heaven. And this to 
"the church of the Laodiceans" should specially 
enlist us, for the reason that it refers more than 
either of the others to the Church of our times, 

240 



TO THE CHURCH OF LAODICEA. 24 1 

giving us Christ's judgment of the dangers and 
duties, the situation and wants, of the Christen- 
dom of which we are a part. 

These se,ven addresses were originally made to 
seven particular churches as then existing, but 
those churches were selected from among the rest 
because they so well represented the whole Church 
from the time of the apostles onward to the end. 
Hence the command to the people of every age to 
"hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches." 
In all time there will be people in the Church 
answering to the descriptions in these several 
Letters, who may here see what the Lord's 
judgment of them is. But while every church 
has something of these seven churches in it, these 
utterances of Jesus also indicate the characteris- 
tics of seven successive periods in the Church's 
history, beginning with the time of John and ex- 
tending to the final consummation. That is to 
say, they were meant to be prophetic as well as 
historic, and the course of their fulfilment can be 
readily traced. 

First was the Ephesian period — a period of 
warmth and love and labor for Christ, dating 
from the apostles, but in which the leaven of 
evil already began to work, showing itself in the 
gradual cooling of the love and zeal of some, the 
false professions of others, and the incoming of 
undue manifestations of carnal ambition. 

16 



242 



THE LETTERS OF JESUS. 



Then came the Smyrna period — the period of 
bitterness for the Church in its last severe strug- 
gles with heathen Rome, the era of bloody mar- 
tyrdom and of the sweet savor unto God of faith- 
fulness unto death; but marked also with further 
elements of defection and departures from the 
original simplicities of the Gospel, which reached 
their height during the early part of the fourth 
century. 

Then followed the Pergamite period, in which 
true faith more and more disappeared and clerical- 
ism gradually formed itself into a dominating sys- 
tem, and the Church entered into a marriage re- 
lation with the powers of this world. 

Then came the Thyatirian period — the age of 
purple and glory for the corrupt and ambitious 
priesthood and of obscuration to the pure evan- 
gelic truth — the age of effeminacy and clerical 
domination, when the Church usurped the place 
of Christ and many of the true witnesses of Jesus 
were given to dungeons, stakes, and inquisitions 
— the age of the enthronement of the false proph- 
etess, whose oppressive dominion extended to the 
days of Luther and the Reformation. 

Then came the Sardian period — the age of 
separation and some vigorous return to the rule 
of Christ — the age of a new beginning, largely 
freed from the Balaamitic doctrines, the Nicolai- 
tan tenets, and the fornications of Jezebel — an age 



TO THE CHURCH OF LA OB ICE A. 



243 



of many worthy names that will never die, but 
withal marked with deadness in its tendencies and 
developing mnch to be repented of — an age cover- 
ing the spiritual lethargy of the Protestant cen- 
turies preceding the great evangelical movements 
of the last hundred years. 

Then came the Philadelphian era, marked by a 
closer adherence to the Word in its practical bear- 
ings, more fraternity among professed Christians, 
and a livelier philanthropy toward the suffering 
and ignorant; but now rapidly giving place to 
the last phase or period of the Church upon earth, 
with which its whole history in this world will 
end and the dispensations of the great judgment 
take its place. 

The Laodicean period is therefore that in which 
we are now living; so that what the Saviour says 
to the church of the Laodiceans He says particu- 
larly to us and to the church-people of our time. 
Having ears to hear, we should therefore be all 
the more quickened to hear, mark, learn, and in- 
wardly digest what the Spirit here saith. And 
may the good Lord help us to hear to our profit 
and to the saving of our souls from the judgment- 
disasters which must soon overtake this wicked 
and unbelieving world! 

The particular part of the Saviour's Letter to 
the church of the Laodiceans now to be consid- 



244 



THE LETTERS OE JESUS. 



ered is His own description of Himself. He had 
previously described Himself as "He that hold- 
eth the seven stars in His right hand, who walk- 
eth in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks;" 
"The first and the last, which was dead, and is 
alive;" " He which hath the sharp sword with 
two edges;" "The Son of God, who hath eyes 
like unto a flame of fire and feet like fine brass;" 
"He that hath the seven spirits of God and the 
seven stars;" "He that is holy. He that is true, 
He that hath the key of David, He that openeth, 
and no man shutteth, and shutteth, and no man 
openeth." Wonderful depths of solemn majest}^ 
experience, office, power, and glory are thus pro- 
fessed and claimed, to which He here adds that 
He is the Ajnen^ the faithful mid true Witness.^ 
the Begimting of the creation of God. ' ' And of 
all the several descriptions this last is the deepest 
and intensest, and demands our special attention. 

Three things does our blessed Saviour thus 
affirm of Himself: 

1. The Amen. 

' 'Amen ' ' is one of those peculiarl}^ sacred words 
reasonably supposed to have originated in heaven. 
It was constantly on the lips of the Saviour in His 
most solemn enunciations. Wherever the words 
"Verily, verily," occur, the original is always 
Amen^ amen. From our first meeting with this 



TO THE CHURCH OF LA OD ICE A. 245 

word in the Scriptures to the end of the Apoca- 
lypse, whether on earth or in heaven, it comes 
before us as a word of intensest sacredness, rati- 
fication, and certified reality. It means So be it. 
It is the sealing word to all the Gospels and Epis- 
tles. It is not an oath, yet it has much of the 
solemnity and force of an oath. It contains no 
adjuration or appeal, yet it authenticates, confirms, 
binds, seals, and pledges to the truth of that to 
which it is afiixed. Paul says that all the prom- 
ises of God in Christ are "yea, and in Him amen;" 
that is, absolutely true, positive, irreversible, and 
certain over against all that is yea and nay, change- 
able, doubtful, unreliable, uncertain. The amen 
of a thing is its unalterable reality concentrated 
and carried in one brief expression. It is the sub- 
stantiation of its veriest truth. And when our 
Saviour thus styles Himself absolutely the Amen^ 
He presents Himself to us as the profoundest real- 
ity of all revelation and promise — the absolute 
Confirmer, Ratifier, and Consummator of all pro- 
nounced truth — the very Truth of truth. 

The exact force of this sublime title has been 
expressed as " the be-all, and the end-all." And 
here it is the Be-all and the End-all of the whole 
purpose of God. 

Divine revelation first came in the form of 
promises, awaiting their fulfilment in future time 
on certain conditions. Of those promises Christ 



246 



THE LETTERS OF JESUS. 



was the substance, and of those conditions He is 
the Fnlfiller, and so is the Amen of revelation. 
The promises displayed the goodness, grace, and 
love of the Father, but the conditions of their ful- 
filment demanded a perfect righteousness. This 
no mere man could ever render. Hence no mere 
man could ever make those promises hold. Firm 
as they are on God's part, they come to naught by 
reason of man's impotency and sin. The full obe- 
dience being wanting, they could not go into effect. 
The amen to them was still needed, and that amen 
came in the person and achievements of the lyord 
Jesus. 

Taking the form and place of man, Christ ful- 
filled the condition of perfect obedience, and thus 
gave to the promises effective life and availing 
reality. Only in Him was divine promise sealed 
unto living effect and ratified for realization. 
From the beginning until Jesus on the cross said, 
" It is finished " and entered upon His heavenly 
dominion, all the sacred utterances of prophet, 
patriarch, priest, or forerunner of the Messiah 
were but loose words, like the Sybil's leaves, 
floating on the winds and tides? It was only 
when the Christ came, gathered them all togeth- 
er, bound them all up in His own sublime achieve- 
ments, and made them steadfast in His own blood 
and triumph, that the effective Amen was added 
to them. Now they are all yea and amen in His 



TO THE CHURCH OF LAO DICE A. 247 

ever-living Self, certain and sure in every partic- 
ular, and can no more fail than He can fail from 
the majesty of His eternal dominion. All is real- 
ity now in Him, for He is the Arnen. 

n. Thk Faithful and True; Witness. 

Some have taken this as a mere repetition in 
another form of what was expressed in calling 
Himself the Amen. But the glorious Son of 
God never deals in meaningless tautology. His 
being the Amen is one thing; His being "the 
faithful and true Witness" is another; and we 
must not confound together things that differ. 

Christ is the x\men as the substantiator and con- 
summator of all that is promised ; He is the faith- 
ful and true Witness in the making known to us 
of the nature, mind, and purposes of God. Hence 
in the beginning of this book He is called ' ' the 
faithful Witness ' ' with reference to the revelations 
given in this book, as given by His authority and 
on His credibility. 

The scriptural conception of a witness is one 
who gives testimony to what he has seen and 
knows. In this sense John the Baptist bore wit- 
ness to Christ, and also said of Him, "He that 
Cometh from heaven is above all, and what He 
hath seen and heard, that He testifieth." To the 
same effect Jesus said of Himself, "We speak that 
we do know, and testify that we have seen " (John 



248 



THE LETTERS OF JESUS. 



3:11, 13). Hence also the record of John : "No 
man hath seen God at any time; the only-begot- 
ten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, He 
hath declared Him." In these and other like 
passages Jesus is set forth as tlie original and sole 
Witness of all that is known or that can be known 
of God. Whether the revelation has been in the 
form of the creation-work, in the form of the 
Word, or in the form of inward light, it is only 
through Christ, who is the Utterer and Revealer 
of God. Thus He is tJie Witness on whom the 
whole family of man is dependent for what is 
known or knowable of the will and purposes of 
the eternal God. 

And He is "the faithful aitd true Witness." 
What He hath seen and knows absolutely He 
testifies with completest fidelity. He cannot be 
mistaken, because He testifies what He hath seen, 
heard, and knows as the Son of God and the only- 
begotten in the bosom of the Father; and He can- 
not misrepresent, because He is the Truth itself. 
All the qualities of a competent, faithful, and true 
witness thus meet in Him, so that what He wit- 
nesseth and speaks can be nothing but the exact 
truth, on which we ma}^ rely with absolute con- 
fidence. Christ's word is therefore an infallible 
word — truth that must stand though the sta- 
bilities of heaven and earth should break down 
and pass away. 



TO THE CHURCH OF LAODICEA. 



249 



III. The Beginning of the Creation of 
God. 

Some have ventured to construe this title in a 
way to reduce our blessed Lord to the rank of a 
mere creature, albeit the first and noblest of crea- 
tures. But the object for which He Himself in- 
troduces it here is to lift our thoughts and con- 
ceptions of Him infinitely above all creaturehood. 
He wishes to have it impressed upon us that in 
the sentences which He is about to pronounce we 
have to do with One who has the majesty and 
power to command and fashion all created things 
— with One who has done it, even to the bringing 
of them into being — with One who is the living, 
active, and personal principle whence all things 
have proceeded and on which all creatures de- 
pend. 

The Beginning of the creation of God " is not 
a part of the creation begun, but that which makes 
the creation be — not He whom God created first, 
but He who was the fountain-source of all God's 
creations, by whom all things were made, and 
without whom there was not anything made that 
was made. 

Such is the uniform teaching of the Scriptures 
throughout (see John i : 1-3; 5 : 19; i Cor. 8:6; 
Col. I : 12-16; Heb. 1:2, 3; Rev. i : 17); and so 
it must needs be in this place also. Christ is like- 



250 THE LETTERS OF JESUS. 

wise called "the End" as well as "the Begin- 
ning," and we might therefore just as legitimately 
count Him the last and least of creatures as the 
first and greatest of them. God and Christ are 
both called Omega, or the End, because they rule 
and determine the end, which has its principle, 
root, and spring from them; and so Christ is called 
Alpha, or the Beginning, from having been the 
causative Beginner, the living principle, root, and 
spring of all divine creations. And it is simply 
impossible to suppose that He who everywhere 
comes forth to establish His perfect oneness with 
the Father should here fix an impassable gulf of 
separation between them. 

It is plain, therefore, that Jesus is, and wishes 
us to regard Him as, verily the Source and Master 
of all created things, having everything in heaven 
and on earth under His dominion and control. He 
would have us understand and know that creation 
had a beginning, and that He was the Beginner 
of it. He would have us understand and know^ 
that there is a Power back of all the laws of na- 
ture, and that He is that Power, as potent in all 
parts of creation as in the economy of grace and 
salvation. He would have us understand and 
know that the Saviour of the world was also its 
Creator, that all its destiny hangs on Him, and 
that the time must come when wind and wave 
shall celebrate His glory and star and flower and 



TO THE CHURCH OF LAO DICE A. 25 I 

gem silently hymn His praise, and all the earth 
in final retrievement honor His name alike as its 
Source and its Salvation. 

And a great thing it is for us to know and un- 
derstand these sublime and far-reaching titles of 
our Ivord and Saviour. It is a great thing to 
know and understand from His own lips that He 
is the Amen, the Be-all and the End-all, of the 
sacred promises and prophecies — the Substaptiator 
and Consummator of the gracious proposals of 
God by fulfilling in Himself all the conditions 
which seal them into everlasting firmness. It is 
a great thing to know and understand that He is 
the faithful and true Witness, and that His testi- 
mony concerning all divine things, past, present, 
or to come, is ever to be relied on as the exact 
truth, which nothing in time or eternity can 
change, and which must hold and stand though 
heaven and earth should pass away. And it is 
a great thing to know and understand that He is 
the Beginning of the creation of God — that it is 
not on an arm of flesh our Christian faith and 
hopes are built — that the power to -save is as un- 
limited as the power to create — and that in His 
hands there can be no failure in the fulfilment of 
His promises or the execution of His threaten - 
ings. And as all this He here presents Himself 
to the church of the Laodiceans and to us, that 
we may understand with whom we have to do. 



252 



THE LETTERS OF JESUS. 



Dear friends, have we then so learned Christ ? 
If not, we are not yet in the right of saving faith. 
We have a great and glorious Saviour, but we 
need to regard and honor Him according to His 
testimony of Himself, to think of Him in holi- 
est reverence, to hear and heed His word, and to 
make sure of being on such terms with Him that 
He may be to us a gracious Deliverer and not an 
aveng^ing Judge. 



Rev. 3 : 15, i6: "1 know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor 
not : 1 would thou wert cold or hot. So then, because thou art luke- 
warm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of My mouth." 

T is the Amen, the Truth of truth, our 
Lord Jesus Himself, who speaks these 
solemn words. They are addressed to 
the angel, or pastor, of the church in Laodicea. 
They express the mind of the infallible Judge 
with regard to the spiritual condition of this man 
and of the church to which he ministered. 

Very high authority asserts that Archippus, 
whom Paul called his fellow-soldier, w^as the 
person here addressed. If such be the fact, we 
find certain doubts about him before this. The 
apostle Paul sent a message to him by the Colos- 
sians to the effect: " Say to Archippus, Take heed 
to the ministry which thou hast received in the 
Lord, that thou fulfil it." This suggests that the 
apostle was not quite satisfied as to the persevering 
fervor and fidelity of this man in the duties of his 
office. At the same time he told the Colossians 
of some "great conflict," some anxious misgiv- 

253 




254 THE LETTERS OF JESUS. 

ing, he had "for them at lyaodicea;" which in- 
dicates not only his great interest in them, but 
that the tendency of things there was not alto- 
gether what it should have been. And here, in 
this Letter, the Saviour Himself gives judgment 
that both pastor and people were alike very defi- 
cient in the deeper spiritual elements of religion, 
and that, with all their wealth and outward pros- 
perity, there was nothing to be said in commen- 
dation of their spiritual condition. 

In the verses now before us three states or 
phases of life with respect to Christianity are 
described, accompanied with indications of the 
divine mind and judgment with regard to 
them: 

I. A State of Coldness; 

II. A State of Warmth; 

III. A State of Lukewarmness. 

I. What, then, are we to understand by the 
state of coldness? The language is figurative, 
and must be interpreted accordingly; but there 
is no need that we should dwell long on explana- 
tions. Cold describes a negative condition; it is 
simply the absence of heat. And to be in a state 
of coldness with regard to Christian life, duty, 
and experience is to be in a condition untouched 
by the powers of grace. It describes those quite 
outside of the kingdom of God — those who have 



TO THE CHURCH OF LAO DICE A. 255 

never heard the Gospel — those who make no pro- 
fession of faith in it — those having no pretensions 
to Christian life and experience. Of this class 
were the publicans and harlots in the days of 
Christ. 

There are always and everywhere very many 
of this class. We all know of people who care 
nothing for religion, pay no attention to it, live 
as if it were nothing but fable, priestcraft, and 
superstition, and stand aloof from the Church and 
all Christian associations and obligations. All 
such are coldy They are said to be cold, be- 
cause they have never been warmed by Christian 
truth, never been moved to Christian life, pro- 
fession, or endeavor, and live along in the spirit- 
ual deadness of carnal nature without regard to 
any claims of God or any attempt to avail them- 
selves of the offers that come forth through the 
Gospel. 

We are also very well assured that this is not at 
all a state which the great Judge approves or in 
which He wishes people to be. The whole pur- 
pose for which Christ came into the world, suf- 
fered, died, rose again, appointed His Church, 
commissioned His ministers, and sent forth His 
Word and Spirit is to bring people out of their 
dead coldness in sin and to warm them into ani- 
mate and living children of the living God. The 
Scriptures everywhere assure us that those who 



256 



THE LETTERS OF JESUS. 



abide in this coldness are in a state of death and 
condemnation, and that nntil they are tonched, 
warmed, and quickened by the powers of divine 
grace, and animated to living faith and Gospel 
obedience, the wrath of God abideth on them. 

II. It is therefore easy to see also what it is to 
be in a state of warmth. It is the opposite of 
coldness. We have a marked instance of it in 
the change wrought in the sardonic Zaccheus. 
He was a bad man, and so was very cold ; but he 
was warmed. When he encountered the holy love 
and tender sympathy and moving look and gra- 
cious words of Him who came to seek and to save 
that which was lost, he was touched and deeply 
affected. He was made to feel that he was not 
only hated and despised, but that there was con- 
sideration and hope for even so great a sinner as 
he had been. His morose and avaricious heart 
opened to the presentations of a new spirit which 
drove out of him his old bitterness and revenge- 
ful injustice, so that the acrid waters of his soul 
began to clear in the calm sunshine of heavenly 
purity and affection. He began to see and realize 
the blessed Saviour's character and mission as 
never before, and he became alive to it. The 
heavenly goodness took hold of him, moved him, 
and so warmed him toward itself that he at once 
set about making restitution to those whom he 



TO THE CHURCH OF LAO DICE A. 25/ 

had wronged, welcomed the merciful Jesus as his 
guest, and became a child of God to whose hard 
heart and godless home salvation had come. From 
utter coldness he had become warm. 

It was the same in the case of Saul of Tarsus. 
He was very bitter cold toward Christ, but he be- 
came entirely changed. Convinced and moved by 
the vision and word of Jesus, he turned from his 
malignant hatred and persecution, submitted to 
the despised Nazarene as his lyord and Saviour, 
and set himself to serve the Master with a zeal 
and earnestness which nothing could cool or turn. 
He even counted all things but refuse that he 
might serve Christ and finish his course with ac- 
ceptance to the glorious Redeemer whose cause he 
. espoused. He was completely warmed. 

^ So it was with the patriarchs, who received the 
promises and were persuaded of them, and em- 
braced them, and confessed that they were stran- 
gers and pilgrims on the earth, looking for an 
abiding city whose maker and builder is God. 

/ So it was with Moses, who chose rather to suf- 
fer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy 
the pleasures of sin for a season, and ever endured 
as seeing Him who is invisible. 

^ So it was with the prophets, apostles, and holy 
martyrs, and hundreds and thousands in every 
age, who forsook the ways of the wicked and 
joyed to cleave to the testimony of God against 

' 17 



258 



THE LETTERS OF JESUS. 



all hindrances and sufferings, if that by any means 
they might attain to the better resurrection. 

And so it is still with those who hear the word, 
and in good and honest hearts keep it and make 
it their meat and drink to do the will of the Father 
which is in heaven. All these, though once cold, 
came to be of the company and congregation of 
the zuarm^ whose hearts were touched and kindled 
with the love of God, and whose whole nature 
w^as made to glow with zeal and fervency in their 
high calling of God in Christ Jesus. 

Nor can there be any doubt as to how those in 
such a state of mind and heart are regarded by the 
great Judge. It is to all such that the promise is, 
" Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father's good 
pleasure to give you the kingdom." 

III. But the Saviour here speaks of still another 
state or phase of life respecting Christianity — a 
state in which there is neither cold nor heat, but 
a condition intermediate between the two — a state 
of lukewarmness. What, then, is this ? 

One who is lukewarm is one who has been par- 
tially warmed, and is no longer in a state of cold- 
ness. If coldness denotes a condition where grace 
has made no impression at all, a state of total 
deadness to Christian influences and requirements, 
then lukewarmness must denote a condition in 
which there has been some kindling to divine 



TO THE CHURCH OF LAODICEA. 259 

truth, some warming to the presentations of the 
Gospel, and a partial answering to its calls and 
claims. 

To be lukewarm a man must be partly warm. 
The powers of grace must have made some per- 
ceptible impression upon him. He must be in 
somxC measure a Christian, interested in sacred 
matters, and somewhat on in Christian profession 
and life. There must be something of Christian- 
ity in him, or he would have no warmth at all, 
and hence could not be said to be lukewarm. 

All the persons addressed in the text were pro- 
fessed believers. They had taken upon them the 
Christian profession. They had been baptized 
and had accepted position as members of the 
Church. They confessed Christ as their Saviour, 
wore the badge of discipleship, and had ranged 
themselves in the line of Christian obedience and 
duty. Otherwise they could not have been rated 
as part and parcel of the church in I^aodicea. Nor 
were they without a degree of seriousness in the 
matter, or they could not have been spoken of as 
partially warm. And yet they were not up to 
the standard of earnestness, zeal, devotion, and 
faithfulness to entitle them to be considered true 
and consistent members of Christ. 

Now, there are very many ways in which peo- 
ple may be partial Christians, largely under the 
influence of Christianity, and rated with the pious 



26o 



THE LETTERS OF JESUS. 



part of the community, while yet very far from 
being such Christians as Christ can accept and 
approve. 

Many consider themselves Christians, and Chris- 
tians of the better sort, who are quite indifferent 
to the doctrines they hold. They make nothing 
of creed, despise it, and want nothing to do with 
those who are in any wise strict and earnest about 
it. If only people will be good, virtuous, chari- 
table, and kind to everybody, they think the great 
thing in religion has been reached, no matter what 
they believe or to what sort of creed they hold. 
Their religion is a mere goodishness, which has 
something of moral warmth in it, but which when 
tested is only a tepid sentimentalism, having noth- 
ing of the solid backbone of Christianity in it. 

Others are very rigid and punctilious about 
sound doctrine. They make orthodoxy every- 
thing, and are ready to fight and suffer for it, but 
are not so particular about their lives. They 
stickle earnestly for the creed and the unadul- 
terated truth; and so far they are warm. But 
when it comes to orthodoxy of practical godli- 
ness, they are anything but warm, and hence 
must be classed with the lukewarm. 

Some have right enough views of things, and 
feel quite properly with regard to all the claims 
and requirements of Christianity, and are ready 
enougli to confess to their whole duty, being full 



TO THE CHURCH OF LAO DICE A. 26 1 

also , of serious self-promises to conform to what 
they acknowledge. And so far they also are 
warm, and ' show it in many ways. But they 
never come to the point of making full surren- 
der and honest endeavor to live up to their 
knowledge and persuasions. They have some 
Christian warmth, but they are only half warm. 

Many, again, are given to a divided worship 
and affection. lyike the ancient Jews, they wor- 
ship Jehovah, but serve other gods. Their devo- 
tion is divided between God and Mammon, be- 
tween Christ and the world, between living for 
heaven and living for self and earthly vanities 
and gains. In some respects they are warm 
enough Christians, but the warmth is neutral- 
ized by their constant adventures into a temper- 
ature ih which there is nothing of Christ or 
Christianity, and where true piety cools and dies. 
All their warmth is but hikewarmness. 

Of all states in which any one living can be, 
this is the worst. The Saviour here contemplates 
a complete coldness as less unfortunate than a 
mere milk-and-water Christianity: I would that 
thou wert cold or hoty And the reasons are ob- 
vious. Something may be made of the cold^ and 
there is something of eternal worth in being hot^ 
but to be neither one nor the other is sickening 
and next thing to hopeless. If the warmth 
amounts merely to hikewarmness, nothing in the 



262 



THE LETTERS OE JESUS. 



world can be made of it; and those who have 
reached it and habituated themselves to rest in it 
are worse off than those who have never been 
reached by the powers of grace. They certainly 
are in a less favorable condition to become thor- 
ough Christians or to be brought to ultimate sal- 
vation. To be religious without true piety, to be 
captivated and pleased with a profession which 
does not carry with it the whole heart and life, to 
count on heaven because we are so much better 
than the totally cold and unbelieving, while yet 
not up to the standard of consistent Christian 
faithfulness, shows a lack of honest sincerity; and 
a lack of candor is more in the way of thorough 
conversion to God than candid and undisguised 
unbelief A Saul of Tarsus may be a great sin- 
ner, but, being honest in his wrong, there is some 
moral leverage left by which to bring him to a 
better life. But a man who feels himself virtu- 
ous, warm, and far enough advanced to be cher- 
ishing hopes of salvation, though really only luke- 
warm, never takes to himself those truths and 
arguments by which the impenitent, unbelieving, 
and cold may perchance be awakened and con- 
verted. Efforts made to bring him right ' he is 
disposed to resent as impertinence. Is he not a 
Christian ? Has he not taken up the cross to fol- 
low Jesus? Does he not believe and confess and 
worship with the congregation of the Lord? And 



TO THE CHURCH OF LAODICEA. 263 

SO he is beyond the reach of conviction. Besides, 
there is an offensive inconsistency in willingly 
accepting so much, and resting in it with self-sat- 
isfaction without going the whole length, which 
grieves away those operations of the Holy Ghost 
without which no one can come to saving warmth. 
It is an offence to the Lord Jesus. And hence the 
fearful threat of the text: ^^So then because thou 
art lukewarm^ and neither cold nor hot^ I will 
spue thee out of 7ny 77iouthy 

A lukewarm Christian, then, is not yet a saved 
man. He may be on the way to salvation, and 
lack but little to bring him to eternal life, pro- 
vided he warms on into the full life of faith. No 
one is hot from the start. There are many degrees 
from cold to hot, and every Christian must pass 
through them all, including the stage of luke- 
warmness also. But to stop there, counting that 
we have come to saving warmth while only luke- 
warm, and thinking ourselves Christians when we 
are' only half-Christians, is to put ourselves in a 
condition more dangerous and more certain of 
failure than if we had never tasted of the heav- 
enly gift and never felt anything of the constrain- 
ing power of the truth. There is more hope for 
the conversion and salvation of an honest atheist 
than for a spoiled, half-hearted, conceited, and 
self-deceived religionist. The publicans and har- 
lots can more readily be brought into the kingdom 



264 



THE LETTERS OF JESUS. 



of heaven than the sanctimonious Pharisees with 
their much fasting and long prayers and loud 
thanksgiving for their supposed saintship. 

The lukewarm Christian is a self-satisfied per- 
son. He feels that he is no longer subject to the 
shocks and charges which the law fulminates 
against the wicked. He is just warm and com- 
fortable enough to let all the awakening terrors 
of the lyord fly past him. He has come so far in 
the line of goodness and faith that he feels quite 
sheltered from the dreadful liabilities which hang 
over the cold and irreligious. He has come just 
far enough to be self-secure, and so it is next to 
impossible to reach him and bring him right. 
The man who know^s himself to be a sinner, and 
that he has not accepted Christ as his Saviour, 
ma}' yet one day fall at the Redeemer's feet. The 
wave's of trouble may yet make him cry to be led 
to the Rock that is higher than he. But the self- 
flattered and self-satisfied half-Christian thinks he 
has all he needs, and cannot be so readily im- 
pressed, awakened, and moved with a sense of 
what his case requires. If he were cold^ some- 
thing could perhaps be done with him; and if 
he were hot^ he would not settle down in such 
indolent self-complacency ; but as he is luke- 
warm^ there is little hope for him, except to be 
vomited out of the Saviour's mouth and rejected 
as a sickening and incorrigible nondescript. 



TO THE CHURCH OF LAODICEA. 265 

Dear friends, these are very solemn truths, and 
we must not put them from us as if they did not 
concern us. Perhaps there never was a time in 
which there was so much half-hearted and self- 
satisfied religion as in our day. There is an im- 
mense amount of goodishness which passes for 
Christianity, and which greatly enlists the zeal 
of many, but which is only a mixture of half and 
half, neither the one thing nor the other. It is 
not irreligion, for it has much in it that belongs 
to genuine godliness; but neither is it out-and-out 
the religion of the Gospel, and multitudes are de- 
ceiving themselves by it to their everlasting dis- 
comfiture. 

I have said that the Letter to the Laodiceans 
applies pre-eminently, to the Church of our times, 
and we have only to look at the condition of our 
churches to see that this neither-cold-nor-hot state 
completely characterizes the vast body of what is 
called the religious part of modern Christendom. 
Of course there are some good and true Christians 
whose hearts are warm and who are living up to 
their profession the best they can. Not every 
member of the church of Laodicea was only luke- 
warm. It is hardly possible for a church — if it be 
a church at all — to become so weak and worldly 
as not to have in it some in whom the germs of 
living faith survive. The dreariest and most bar- 
ren deserts have here and there some show of life 



266 



THE LETTERS OF JESUS. 



and some feeble, struggling flowers. Where God's 
word sounds the assurance is that it shall not re- 
turn utterly void. Some, in the simplicity of 
their hearts, will believe it and live upon it as 
the true children of the Father. So long as the 
Church of Christ endures there will be some in 
it who are faithful and true. And when the Sa- 
viour spoke of the church in Laodicea as " neither 
cold nor hot," He did not mean every individual 
member of it personally. He spoke only of the 
prevailing condition of it as a whole — its general 
state as brought out in the sentiments, feelings, 
life, and character of its most representative peo- 
ple. What He says is that there was far more 
lukewarmness and neither-hot-nor-cold religion 
among them than there was of sincere, earnest, 
and devoted Christianity — that in the mass there 
were a great many more half-worldly and only 
half-Christian people among them than of any 
other class. And just so it is now. It is not that 
there is no respect for religion ; no zealous profes- 
sion; no holding to the Gospel as of God and the 
only hope of man; no liberal giving and doing 
for the honor and dignity of the Church and its 
institutions; no loud and pretentious activity in 
what people call Christianity; no ready enroll- 
ment of multitudes who confess Christ. In all 
these respects there is much of which the Church 
of our day is disposed to boast itself against the 



TO THE CHURCH OF LA OD ICE A. 267 

state of things in other times and ages. But the 
point is, that with all this there is such a mixing 
up of worldliness, worldly feeling, worldly living, 
worldly thoughts and policies, and a worldly pride 
and self-satisfaction, that in the vast majority of 
those who count themselves Christians the relig- 
ious temper and life stand at an average of neither 
cold nor hot; which is sickening to Christ and fast 
tending to an utter rejection from His acknow- 
ledgment. And if we, dear friends, are disposed 
to be satisfied with ourselves and our attainments 
in grace, with no burning desire to improve upon 
our Christian life and devotion, then are we of 
that same neither-hot-nor-cold class, and must 
begin our work over again, lest we be utterly 
rejected by our Lord. 



Rev. 3: 17, 18: "Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased 
with goods, and have need of nothing ; and knowest not that thou art 
wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked : I counsel 
thee to buy of Me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich ; and 
white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy 
nakedness do not appear ; and anoint thine eyes with eye-salve, that 
thou mayest see." 

AN is very liable to be deceived, and as 
liable to deceive himself as he is to be 
deceived by others. People deceive them- 
selves as to their personal attractions, their men- 
tal powers, and the credit to which they think 
themselves entitled; and they can just as readily 
deceive and impose upon themselves with regard 
to their spiritual estate and moral qualities. A 
very marked instance of this presented itself in 
the case of this church at Laodicea. 

It is hard to conceive how these people could 
be so confident in their good thinking of them- 
selves when the facts were just the contrary of 
what they supposed. We would think that per- 
sons so lukewarm and worldly as they would show 
some degree of reserve and diffidence in supposing 
themselves full up to every requirement and in 

268 




TO THE CHURCH OF LAO DICE A. 269 

need of nothing. But in proportion to their 
lukewarmness was their self-satisfaction and their 
confidence that they were quite rich in every 
needful good. "Having reached a sufficiency 
for all that they were inclined to, they persuaded 
themselves that they had all that they were bound 
to," and so considered that they were amply en- 
riched beyond all further danger or want. 

Interpreters have questioned whether the riches 
in this case are to be taken as worldly or as spirit- 
ual riches. Both doubtless were in the Saviour's 
mind. lyaodicea was a rich city, perhaps the 
most famous wool-market in the world. Many 
of the products of the East there exchanged hands 
for distribution toward the West, leaving rich 
profits for the Laodicean merchants and manu- 
facturers. There is reason to believe that the 
church there was the wealthiest in earthly goods 
of any then existing. And where there is great 
wealth there is apt to be a great deal of self-con- 
fidence. The rich are prone to think themselves 
pretty well fixed and guarded against all perad- 
ventures. There is great power in great wealth, 
and a church made up of wealthy members is 
easily persuaded that it has everything necessary 
to answer all possible purposes. 

But with their temporal riches these people con- 
nected spiritual riches also. They had an idea of 
wealth in grace, and some persuasion that there 



270 



THE LETTERS OF JESUS. 



was no want of that in which Jesns says they were 
poor. The bad feature of the case was that they 
were self-deceived. They could not have been so 
grossly deceived as to suppose themselves rich and 
increased with worldly goods if really poor in that 
respect. Their false opinion of their riches must 
therefore have included some thought of spiritual 
riches, however much it may have been begotten 
by their worldly plenty. Rich in the things of 
this world, they considered themselves well off in 
grace too, and were so well pleased with their 
whole estate that they could not see that they had 
need of anything, whether in reference to their 
Christianity or their outward condition. Nay, the 
ultimate stress of the description falls upon spir- 
itual matters, implying that these people were 
walking in a vain imagination of their good es- 
tate toward God, not knowing that their self-suf- 
ficiency was an egregious self-delusion. 

But whether their boastful conceit had reference 
to their temporal wealth, their spiritual wealth, 
or both, there was a very wide difference between 
Christ's estimate of them and their estimate of 
themselves. They thought they were rich; He 
says they were poor. They doted on their in- 
crease in everything to make them happy; He 
says they were in a condition of wretchedness 
and misery without knowing it. They were sat- 
isfied and persuaded that they had need of noth- 



TO THE CHURCH OF LAODICEA. 27 1 

ing; He says they were destitute, blind, and 
naked. They had no sense of the reality of their 
condition, no just views of God or themselves,, no 
right perception of the ways of life and the re- 
quirements of salvation. They were miserably 
deceived. 

If it was their worldly prosperity in which they 
commended themselves, they were in dread mis- 
take to suppose that earthly goods would avail 
them before God or carry them safely through the 
day of judgment. Dives was a rich man, clothed 
in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously 
every day; but " he died, and in hell he lifted up 
his eyes, being in torments." x\nd if it was their 
supposed spiritual riches, they were equally mis- 
taken in expecting heaven on a mere lukewarm 
and halfway Christianity. It is not what we think 
we are that determines our estate, for it may be 
all delusion. Nor are we what others may say we 
are, for it may be their ignorance, their malignity, 
or their flattery. But we are what God sees us to 
be, whatever thoughts or calculations to the con- 
trary we may indulge. 

How these people came to entertain such false 
conclusions in reference to their good estate is in- 
dicated in the fact stated in the preceding verses. 
They were neither cold nor hot, but lukewarm. 
If cold and wholly outside of the influences of 
religion, they could not have counted themselves 



2/2 



THE LETTERS OF JESUS. 



SO secure and well off before God, nor have felt 
themselves warranted in indulging Christian hopes. 
But they were half warmed in spiritual things. 
They had gone far enough in Christianity to 
make them think and feel that they were Chris- 
tians. What were they if they were not Chris- 
tians? They were not heathen, they were not 
Jews, and, if anything, they must needs be Chris- 
tians. And being Christians, and so rich, why 
should they not consider themselves admirably 
well off for both worlds? If they had been hot 
and entered fully into the Christian spirit and life, 
they would have had no confidence in the flesh, 
and, like Paul, would not have counted that they 
had apprehended all for which they were appre- 
hended of Christ. But they were lukewarm^ and 
their lukewarmness made them dull and indiffer- 
ent in self-examination. They were not hot in 
Christianity, and hence not anxious enough about 
their spiritual condition to search themselves well 
in the light of God's truth; and their lack of 
proper self-examination left them to the false in- 
ference that as they were outwardly prosperous all 
was right with them spiritually. Nay, how could 
it be that they were not in the highest standing 
with God, seeing that He had so greatl}- blessed 
them ? It was doubtless in some such way that 
they reasoned. And so they concluded that they 
were in all respects well off and happy, not know- 



TO THE CHURCH OF LA OB ICE A. 2/3 

ing or suspecting that they were really in a state 
of miserable poverty, blindness, and nakedness. 

It is sad to think that even as Christians we are 
liable to such dreadful deception ; but so it is, and 
we cannot alter it. And such self-deception is 
sure to come and take possession of us if we allow 
ourselves to settle down contentedly in a lukewarm 
and halfway Christianity. To cultivate just enough 
religion to keep us easy in conscience, yet not 
enough to keep us uneasy and anxious about our 
salvation, exposes us to the greatest danger and 
opens the door for this miserable Ivaodicean con- 
dition of thinking ourselves rich and needing 
nothing while still in pitiable lack and destitu- 
tion. The urgent necessity is ever upon us, if we 
would indeed come to eternal life, to search our- 
selves often and thoroughly lest we should be- 
come the victims of this very delusion. 

Notice, then, what the Amen, the faithful and 
true Witness, says, by way of requirement and 
direction in the case of these lukewarm, self-se- 
cure, and self-deceived people. The words are 
plain and pointed, and apply to all who think 
they stand, as well as to those originally addressed: 
Because thou sayest^ I am rich^ and increased 
zvith goods ^ and have 7ieed of nothing ; and knozv- 
est not that thou art zvretched^ and miserable^ a7td 
poor^ and blind ^ and naked: I counsel thee — " 

" I counsel thee." There is a tinge of irony in 

18 



274 THE LETTERS OE JESUS. 

the way the Saviour speaks, though an irony of 
love for the good of those addressed. He who 
might have commanded gives ' ' counsel^ ' ' and 
conforms His manner of speech to the conceit of 
the persons addressed. They were very great and 
high people in their own esteem — so great and 
high that it was scarce in place to address them 
as common sinners. They were rich and wise, 
and hence to be very deferentially approached. 
And so the Saviour uses the dialect pertaining to 
their conceited dignity and self-consequence. It 
was not for them to be spoken to in the tone of 
rebuke and imperial command, and so He sug- 
gests to them a piece of counsel which they might 
perhaps condescend to consider. 

What, then, did He counsel? "I counsel thee 
to buy of Me gold tried in the fire^ that thou may- 
est be rich ; mid white raiment^ that thou mayest 
be clothed^ and that the shame of thy nakedness do 
7iot appear ; and anoint thine eyes zvith eye-salve., 
that thou mayest see^ And a deep-cutting coun- 
sel it was. 

They were people of business and large buyers 
of all the products coming from the East, that 
they might sell them again at high advances to 
the consumers of the West. And so the Saviour 
suggests and counsels whether they had not better 
consider the propriety of doing a larger business 
with Him^ and take some stock in the .treasures 



TO THE CHURCH OF LAODICEA. 2/5 

and wares which He had to dispose of: I counsel 
thee to buy of Me. ' ' 

They had accumulated goodly fortunes. They 
were rich and plentiful in gold. But their gold 
was not such gold as would maintain its proper 
weight when tried in the balances of judgment. 
It was gold only half refined, that would not pass 
at all for currency in the kingdom of God. He 
had the true gold, the tried gold, the genuine and 
pure coin, which whosoever hath is rich indeed, 
and can travel or dwell at liberty in all realms. 

Everywhere do we read of the riches of Christ, 
the true riches, the treasures that make rich to- 
ward God — treasures which moth doth not corrupt 
and thieves can never steal. These are made up 
of the only pure gold, the only riches that can 
give rank and place in the heavenly common- 
wealth. And the counsel here given by the Sa- 
viour is that it would be to the advantage of these 
buyers to try to come to terms with Him to pos- 
sess themselves of the pure and abiding riches. 

As many came from the far East to I^aodicea 
with their camels laden with wools, fabrics, and 
treasures to sell to these merchants, so Christ here 
represents Himself as having come to them with 
all the precious things of His kingdom, proposing 
that they should buy of Him the genuine goods 
which should be to them the treasures of refined 
gold, current for all wants, even to life eternal. 



2/6 



THE LETTERS OF JESUS. 



Many of these people were traders in wool and 
garments and articles made of wool. The raven- 
black wools of Laodicea were famous throughout 
the world. But they were not of such sort as to 
serve for the clothing and covering of the naked- 
ness of the soul. Therefore the Saviour counsels 
them to buy raiment from Him — not black rai- 
ment such as theirs, but ivhite raiment — raiment 
that would serve to array them for the society of 
heaven. We read many times of the fine linen, 
white and clean, which is the righteousness of the 
saints— of robes made white in the blood of the 
Lamb, of garments unspotted by the flesh, of 
being clothed with righteousness and with the 
garments of salvation. x\nd this is the raiment 
that Jesus proposed that these people should 
buy of Him. 

Some of these were large dealers in ointments, 
perfumeries, and medicines, brought from various 
places noted for their production, and highly val- 
ued for their healing virtues. But such ointments 
and oils as they handled could not heal spiritual 
ailments. Among them all there was no eye-salve 
that could cure their distorted vision or recover 
them to right views of their real condition and 
wants. They believed, and as believers they had 
membership and place in the Church, but they 
had not added to their faith virtue, and to virtue 
knowledge, and to knowledge temperance, and so 



TO THE CHURCH OF LAODICEA. 2// 

on to the fulness of Christian life and vigor, and 
hence were blind and could not see properly, and 
needed an effective eye-salve which Jesus proposed 
to furnigh. Indeed, He came for this very pur- 
pose, to open blind eyes and remedy the obscured 
and misleading vision of the children of men. 
Hence He counsels these easy-going and self- 
complacent people to get His eye-salve and anoint 
their eyes with it, that they might see; for only 
the unction from the Holy One can ever give 
clear-sightedness to perceive the truth, and thus 
to become wise unto salvation. 

These things Jesus counselled these people to 
buy of Him. But how can wretched, miserable, 
poor, blind, and naked people buy anything ? The 
counsel looks like a self-contradiction and an im- 
possibility. But the biLying of which He coun- 
sels is the buying Isaiah speaks of, where it is 
said, "Every one, and he that hath no money, 
come ye, buy and eat: yea come, buy wine and 
milk without money and without price." There 
is dealing with Christ required, and there is some- 
thing of price demanded, but it is not beyond the 
reach of the poorest. Nay, the deeper the con- 
sciousness of destitution and poverty the better 
the chance for a successful purchase. The word 
is, "To this man will I look, even to him that is 
poor, and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at 
My word." All who really wish to have the 



2/8 



THE LETTERS OF JESUS. 



Saviour's fine gold and white raiment and heal- 
ing unction, and apply to Him for them, and 
covet them earnestly, and open their mouths wide 
unto Him, are already in the way of possessing 
them. Only "let the wicked forsake his way, 
and the unrighteous man his thoughts, and return 
unto the Lord, and He will have mercy upon him, 
and to our God,' for He will abundantly pardon." 
But people must renounce the world and its fol- 
lies. They must let go their conceit and good 
opinion of themselves. Whatever of peace and 
prosperity may have come to them, they must 
never think they have sufficiently attained, nor 
give place to the delusion that they are rich, and 
so increased with goods as to be in want of noth- 
ing more. They need to feel and know that of 
themselves they are never other than wretched, 
and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked, 
and hence need to put themselves in close and 
constant communication and dealing with Christ, 
who is prepared and ever ready to enrich them 
with the pure gold, to clothe them with the white 
raiment of His righteousness, and to anoint them 
with the healing and rectifying unction of His 
Holy Spirit. 

There is particular emphasis laid on the words 
Me.y These lyaodiceans were very ardent 
and active in trying to enrich themselves by buy- 
ing of other people, but they were not so much 



TO THE CHURCH OF LA OD ICE A. 279 

concerned to enrich themselves with the pure and 
immortal riches to be had only of Him. The 
counsel, therefore, was for them to transfer to 
Him the activity and earnestness of dealing 
which characterized their transactions with other 
comers. No one can ever get and enjoy the true 
riches if he is not willing to deal with Christ. 
He is the possessor and administrator of all sav- 
ing grace. No one can have salvation and leave 
Him out. Every one must go to Him, buy of 
Him, and have constantly to do with Him, or all 
hopes must fail. Declining to deal with Christ 
or to come to terms with Him, we decline heaven, 
and must remain poor, naked, and wretched for 
ever; for no one has the riches and goods and 
medicines we need but Himself There is none 
other name given under heaven among men 
whereby we can be saved. In Him are all the 
treasures of wisdom and knowledge. In Him are 
the only life and light of the children of men. 
' ' He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting 
life; and he that believeth not the Son, shall not 
see life, and the wrath of God abideth upon him." 
Whether for the cold or for the lukewarm there is 
no other way out of our poverty and wretchedness 
but to come to Christ and buy of Him. Our sal- 
vation is in His merchandise. 

And a blessed thing it is that He comes to us 
with His precious treasures and proposes to make 



28o 



THE LETTERS OF JESUS. 



them ours. We have not to go far to find Him. 
He comes to us. A great way has He travelled 
to reach us, and at great cost has He procured for 
us the pure gold, the raiment of justifying right- 
eousness, and the unction of permanent healing 
for all defects. He also invites us to come and 
buy, ready to pass all into our possession on the 
spot if we desire them. And His terms are very 
easy. We have only to cease resting on our own 
sufficiency, turn from all other hope, and take the 
treasures which He offers. We can have them for 
the taking. 

Dear friends, a great and costly opportunity is 
ours. Let us not think that we have no occasion 
to embrace it. Let us not think that we are rich 
and increased with goods and have need of noth- 
ing. Let us not suppose because we have taken 
upon us the Christian profession, and have been 
much favored with the sunshine of prosperity, 
that we are anything but poor, needy sinners. 
We only deceive ourselves if we do. Every day, 
every hour, we need the Saviour's atoning blood 
and, gracious forgiveness. We stand continually 
in shameful nakedness till clothed with His right- 
eousness. We are all the time full of blindness, 
ailment, and folly, which His grace alone can 
heal. We are as much in want to-day as ever we 
have been in our lives. Our Saviour knows this, 
and what a wretched self-deception it is for us to 



TO THE CHURCH OF LAODICEA. 28 1 

* 

think otherwise! Accordingly, He comes to us 
laden with His precious goods, that we may buy 
of Him, and never think ourselves rich and happy 
except as we again and again renew and keep up 
our commerce with Him. And here in the text 
He stands before each one of us to-day, telling us 
of our poverty and wretchedness, and counselling 
us to buy of Him gold tried in the fire that we 
may be rich, and white raiment that we may be 
clothed, and the healing salves of heavenly unc- 
tion that we may be cured of our great infirmities. 
Let us, then, be thankful for our chance, and earn- 
estly embrace it while we may. 



Hecture iffiisljteentij. 

Rev. 3 : 19: "As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten : be zealous 
therefore, and repent." 

HAT is written in Proverbs (3:11, 12) as 
pertaining to God, Jesus here quotes as 
pertaining to Himself. The explanation 
is found in that saying of His: "/ and My Father 
are oney If the Father loves and chastens, the 
Son loves and chastens; and if the Son loves and 
chastens, it is the Father doing it, for the Father 
is in the Son and the Son in the Father, and the 
administration in either case is one and the same. 

That God in Christ is supremely good and be- 
nevolent is evidenced on all hands. That He ex- 
ercises a very tender affection for His creature 
man, and is very loving to those whom He has 
chosen, is declared in all the Scriptures. But 
what is here announced as His way of dealing 
with the objects of His regard appears a little 
strange and paradoxical to natural expectation. 
We would rather suppose that those whom God 
loves He would make rich and , great and noble 
and renowned, that He would give them all the 
world can afford, and that He would show His 

282 




TO THE CHURCH OF LAODICEA. 283 

favor by wreathing their brows with honors that 
do not fade and filling their coffers with riches 
that thieves cannot steal. It was somewhat in 
this way that these Laodiceans reasoned. But 
the Saviour speaks very differently. He here 
gives it as the settled principle of His adminis- 
trations that those whose lives are flowing on amid 
sunshine and flowers have most reason to doubt 
their favorable standing with Him, for as many 
as He loves He rebukes and chastens. The builder 
does not touch the stones which he has not chosen 
for place in his edifice. He deals only with those 
which he most approves and intends for the most 
honored places; and these he hews and chisels and 
rasps to shape and fit them for their positions. 

To rebuke {iXiy/jo) is to reprove, to convict, to 
shame, to show one his errors. To chasten {zat- 
deo(o) is to teach and educate by means of the rod, 
to correct with severity, to punish for the cure of 
wrong, to set right by scourging, as in the case of 
a father dealing with a child. The two are run 
together and describe severe disciplinary treat- 
ment, meant to suppress and remove faults and 
imperfections and to bring about a bettered con- 
dition. The words designate a painful and hu- 
miliating treatment, not to destroy, but to edu- 
cate, correct, develop, improve, and fashion to 
propriety, honor, and goodness. And so the 
Saviour says He deals with all whom He loves. 



284 THE LETTERS OE JESUS. 

The whole history of the Church from the be- 
ginning until now is one continuous illustration 
of the statement, "As many as I love I rebuke 
and chasten." From Abel, who died a martyr 
within sight of lost Paradise, and from the tears 
of Adam and Bve over his untimely and tragic 
death, down to the latest sorrows in the homes of 
the saints, the truth stands out that as many as 
Jesus loves He rebukes and chastens. The rule 
admits of no exceptions. No one is exempt from 
its operation. The devil may promise worldly- 
prosperity to his children, but Jesus says we must 
enter the kingdom of heaven through much trib- 
ulation. Where His loving favor rests, there it 
is part of the administration of His love to deal 
out corrective discipline. If we are not chastened 
betimes, we are not the subjects of His grace; 
" for whom the Lord loveth He chastenetli, and 
scourgeth every son whom He receiveth. If ye 
endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with 
sons; for what son is he whom the father chasten- 
eth not? But if ye be without chastisement, 
whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, 
and not sons " (Heb. 12 : 5-8). And as those who 
are not scourged are not legitimate children, so 
those who are not rebuked and chastened are not 
loved. 

Very precious also is this discipline of suffer- 
ing. Many great and ruinous errors and faults 



TO THE CHURCH OF LAODICEA. 285 

are thereby cured or prevented. Miriam was 
taught to leave off her rebellious murmuring and 
trouble-making by being smitten with leprosy. 
Jonah was brought to his better senses and to the 
discharge of his prophetic duties by the trouble 
he encountered in the sea amid the storm of di- 
vine displeasure. David was recovered from his 
wandering from God by the afflictions that were 
sent upon him. Zacharias was cured of his un- 
belief by being struck with dumbness. Paul was 
kept from being exalted above measure by a hu- 
miliating and vexatious thorn in the flesh. And 
so afflictions of one sort or another are dealt out 
to the people of God for their spiritual profit, that 
the same may work out for them a far more ex- 
ceeding and eternal weight of glory. 

Up to the time the text was dictated the church 
at Laodicea appears to have been comparatively 
free from trouble. The members in general were 
outwardly prosperous and without the disturb- 
ances with which some of these churches had to 
contend. They counted themselves rich and hap- 
py and in need of nothing, and hence presumed 
that the special favor of Heaven was upon them. 
Their exemption from adversities made them think 
themselves particularly dear to the Saviour and 
spiritually blessed. But what they took as an 
argument that all was exceptionally well with 
them Jesus here retorts upon them as arguing the 



286 



THE LETTERS OE JESUS. 



very opposite. Out of their own mouths He 'con- 
victs them. Without rebuke and chastening they 
were wanting in one of the most essential proofs 
of His love. Excepted from these severe disci- 
plinary dealings, they must needs be excepted 
from being sons. There was thus a very sharp 
and deep-reaching rebuke to their fond conceit 
when Jesus said to them, ^'As many as I love I 
rebuke and chasten^ 

And yet if there were any poor, afflicted, or 
sorrowing ones among them, this announcement 
had much comfort in it for them. It said to such 
that as continued prosperity and sunshine in this 
world are no proof of the divine favor, but rather 
the contrary, so the presence of adversity and 
darkness do not prove the divine love withdrawn, 
but evidence its active presence. 

When good Christian people are overtaken with 
misfortune and trouble, and fail of relief notwith- 
standing all their prayers and entreaties, they are 
apt to take it as a mark of God's anger and begin 
to wonder what great sin they have committed to 
deserve sucli punishment. But they mistake; it 
is not punishment at all. Instead of being re- 
tributive wrath, it is the manifestation of tender 
love. Trouble does not come because Jesus has 
ceased to love us, but because He does love us and 
is concerned to do the very best for us. The rule 
works both ways. As there is no love where there 



TO THE CHURCH OF LAODICEA. 28/ 

is no rebuke and chastening, so where the cross is 
there love is, graciously dealing with us for our 
greater good and blessedness. 

But because these I^aodiceans were happily free 
from adversity and trial, there was no reason in 
that for counting on the continuance of their 
boasted good-fortune. The very announcement 
to them of this principle in the Saviour's deal- 
ings was forewarning that they would either lose 
their salvation or would have to suffer like other 
saints. x\s prosperity had spoiled them, there had 
to come some sharp severity to correct them; and 
here was now the distinct pre-intimation that 
heavy judgment was at hand for them, to cure 
and save them if they properly received it, but 
destined to work great grief and their utter per- 
dition if not allowed to set them right and in- 
duce in them a better temper. Nay, this judg- 
ment had now already set in. The very words 
that the Saviour was speaking were a part of it. 
In these they were now hearing from the throne 
in heaven the most distressing sentence upon 
them. By a tribunal from which there is no 
appeal their whole religious life and character 
is adjudged fatally defective, and so offensive that 
they would presently be ejected with disgust from 
all part or place with the Saviour if not promptly 
reformed and changed. From the very lips of 
Him in whom alone there was any hope for them 



288 



THE LETTERS OF JESUS. 



they now were compelled to hear that all their 
supposed riches cloaked a wretched poverty, and 
that nothing could help them but instantaneous 
revolution in their thinking and their ways. 

Here was judgment begun. Here were intense 
rebuke and chastening come, after all. Here were 
scourging and humiliation, severer even than the 
fires of the stake at Smyrna amid which Polycarp 
obtained the martyr's crown. What could cut 
deeper or burn into the soul a more torturing 
distress than such words from Christ Himself? 

And yet it was not in anger, but in love, that 
these words were spoken. The intention was to 
recover, heal, and save, not to drive to despair. 
There was no hope for these people except in this 
way of dealing with them; and these very sever- 
ities of reproof and menace were given in love, 
that those concerned might profit by them and set 
themselves to repair what was wanting. 

What, then, was it that the Saviour wished to 
bring about in these people ? There is never any 
activity of God in word or providence but it is 
meant to compass moral and practical results. In 
this case it was the rod of the word heavily ap- 
plied, that the subjects of the affliction might be 
moved and incited to be sealoits^ and repent^ 

Zeal means fire, warmth, boiling fervency — an 
earnest vehemence of all the affections in relation 
to God and His service. It is like wings to a bird, 



TO THE CHURCH OF LAODICEA. 289 

like wheels to a chariot, like sails to a ship, like 
the fire on which the engine dep nds for its steam 
and power; for it is the warmth and energy of soul 
by which a man throws himself into what he un- 
dertakes. Under the Law no sacrifice could be 
offered without fire; and no more can any service 
be rightly performed under the Gospel without 
zeal. There must be fervency and warmth, or 
all our devotions fail in power to rise acceptably 
to Heaven. 

There may, indeed, be zeal without genuine ser- 
vice of God, against which to be on our guard. 

There is a hypocritical zeal^ like that of Jehu, 
who marched with fury and whose watchword 
was "The Lord of hosts," but who was more 
bent upon his owm ambitious ends than on any 
service to be rendered to the Almighty. So also 
with the Pharisees, who paid tithe of mint, anise, 
and cummin, made broad their phylacteries, en- 
larged the borders of their garments, coveted the 
uppermost rooms at feasts and the chief seats in 
the synagogues, compassed sea and land to make 
proselytes, and for a pretence made long prayers, 
but did not hesitate to devour widows' houses, to 
set aside the weighty matters of judgment, mercy, 
and faith, to stone and kill the prophets, and to 
crucify the very Son of God. 

There is also an ignorant zeal^ like that of Saul 
of Tarsus before his conversion, or like that of 

19 



290 



THE LETTERS OF JESUS. 



the Jews, who had a zeal for God, but not accord- 
ing to knowledge. Such a zeal is like spirited 
mettle in a blind horse, hastening his speed 'only 
to break his neck. 

There is likewise a turbulent and bitter seal^ 
driving one headlong beyond all bounds of pro- 
priety, place, moderation, and charity, like that 
of the unfledged apostles James and John, who 
thought to vindicate the honor of Christ by call- 
ing down fire from heaven to consume a whole 
village of Samaritans, or like that which, under 
color of religion or the maintenance of human 
rights, takes upon itself to massacre princes, over- 
turn kingdoms, trample upon established law, 
break through all the bonds of society, and com- 
mit to the guillotine all who may stand in its way 
— a zeal kindled in hell rather than derived from 
heaven. 

And yet there can be no genuine service of God 
without zeal. The ground-rule of the whole law 
of God and of all the precepts and requirements 
of His word is that if we are to serve God at all 
it must be with all the heart, with all the soul, 
with all the mind, and with all the strength. He 
is the Supreme, and if He is not the supreme in 
all our affections and activities we stand exposed 
to that consuming jealousy which will not allow 
of our having any other God besides Him. 

Zeal in religion is not excitement, rant, and 



TO THE CHURCH OF LA OD ICE A. 29 1 

fury. It is not fanaticism, bigotry, and intoler- 
ance. It is not a proud conceit of superiority 
which thanks God that it is not as other men, 
and draws its cloak of sanctity about it lest it 
should take on contamination by coming too near 
to them. It is not the heat of blustering passion, 
which must have the conflagration in which to 
live, and leaves only a burnt district when it re- 
tires. But it is the giving of the whole heart to 
Jesus and His service, so as not to draw back for 
any lure of this world or to stop at any sacrifice 
the Ivord may require of us. 

And just here was the particular deficiency of 
these I^aodiceans. No charge of heresy in doc- 
trine is made against them. No disorder in their 
services is alleged. Outwardly they were a pros- 
perous and respectable community of Christians. 
But they were neither cold nor hot. They were 
lukewarm. They had no zeal^ no . fervency, no 
ardent warmth, no whole-souled earnestness in 
their Christianity. They were in an insipid and 
nauseating condition, which they needed to get 
out of, or nothing was to be hoped but to be 
spued out of the Saviour's mouth. 

To get them out of this miserable lukewarm- 
ness it was now laid upon them to repent. Their 
mind had to be changed. Their whole estimate 
of things had to be revolutionized. Their good 
opinion of themselves had to be dropped. They 



292 



THE LETTERS OF JESUS. 



were to go at the whole matter afresh, turn a new 
leaf, and begin again as poor sinners, destitute, 
blind, naked, and in peril of losing their salva- 
tion altogether. There was hope if they would 
now set out in good earnest, seek for a new bap- 
tism of the Spirit, and become alive and zealous 
in their profession and duties as Christians. But 
this was now an absolute requirement. If their 
wealth could not be consecrated to better uses 
than to inflate their self-consequence and self- 
complacency, it would prove their worst curse 
and be a chain about their necks to sink them to 
the deeper perdition. If the}" did not give them- 
selves to more earnestness and heart-fidelity in 
their religion, their boasted outward prosperity 
would be to them their everlasting ruin. And 
nothing but a new start in a warm, devoted, and 
zealous spirituality, and a deepening of their piet}' 
in all directions, would now save them from an 
utter rejection by their Lord and Judge. 

And if ever there was occasion for such de- 
mands, it is in the Christendom of our times. 
Never was the Church general and the great mass 
of its professed members so Laodicean in condi- 
tion as in our days. Never was there so much 
joining of the worship of God with the worship 
of Mammon — such close afiEiliation of the Church 
with the world — so much boastful religiousness 
and churchism with so little genuine Christian- 



TO THE CHURCH OF LAODICEA. 293 

ity — SO much self-confident profession with so 
much emptiness even in common honesty. Peo- 
ple heap to themselves teachers to suit their tastes 
— teachers to slur over or deny unwelcome truths, 
flatter the vain imaginings of their hearers, and 
teach an easy-going way to heaven — and then 
think how wonderfully well off they are for this 
world and the next. Having come down to the 
world's ideas and gained the world's praise and 
patronage, they are full of the lyaodicean self- 
sufficiency, and as full of lyaodicean oflfensiveness 
to Christ. 

Here and there we find some humble and de- 
voted ones whom Jesus loves — some whom He 
bears upon His heart as His true saints. But they 
are mostly persons of whom the least account is 
taken — poor souls to whom nobody cares to listen 
or who are only despised as wishing to put a cowl 
upon the free spirit of this superlative age. The 
time prophesied of by Paul has come, when in the 
Church itself " men are lovers of their own selves, 
covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, heady, 
high-minded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers 
of God, having the form of godliness, but deny- 
ing the power thereof." And it is useless for any 
of us to think that we are not more or less under 
the influence of this same Laodicean spirit; for 
that itself would be proof against us. What we 
all need is to repent and be zealous, that our re- 



294 THE LETTERS OF JESUS. 

ligion may not be of that poor sort which Christ 
certainly will disown and reject. 

It belongs to man to have live feelings. We 
cannot live without animation and passion. We 
must be interested and ardent in something. And 
if it is not in earnest spiritual Christianity and the 
service of God, it will be in the pursuits, follies, 
and caprices of this world, in the service of self 
and sin. The question is not whether we are to 
have warmth and zest in us, but whether the 
warmth and zest are to be for God and His 
Christ. Feel we must, and zealous we will be; 
but the question is whether our enthusiasm is 
to be nourished from the wells of salvation, or 
fed by the excitements and fascinations of the 
world, the flesh, and the devil. 

The human family is not made up of lukewarm 
people. The whole world teems with activity and 
zealous effort. You look in vain for those who 
are not busy and earnest in something which lies 
near their hearts. Politics, science, literature, art, 
fashion, gain, promotion, riches, pleasure, sen- 
suality, — all have their myriads of earnest devo- 
tees. Turn where we will, we find anxious faces, 
throbbing hearts, busy hands, agitated minds, and 
earnest souls. No one is lukewarm. Each has 
his subject to occupy and animate his thoughts 
and fire his zeal. The very weariness of the 
world proves the intensity of feeling which moves 



TO THE CHURCH OF LAO DICE A. 295 

and tasks its heart. And if people are thus inter- 
ested and earnest in the perishing things of this 
world, there can be no greater inconsistency, no 
worse unreason, no more offensive hypocrisy, than 
for them to claim to be Christians and yet have no 
zeal, no enthusiasm, no vigorous earnestness in 
what pertains to Christianity. 

Everything else is in earnest. The world is in 
earnest. Christ is in earnest. The devil is in 
earnest, and all the devil's children are in earnest 
in one way or another. And for a professed Chris- 
tian to hope to secure an eternal heaven without 
earnest and uncompromising endeavor to fill out 
the demands of his high calling is an anomaly in 
the universe, and a thing which the heavenly 
Judge can by no means tolerate. Hence His 
message to the lyaodiceans, and to all in like 
condition: ^^Be zealous^ therefore^ and repenty 

Dear friends, let us not deceive ourselves. If 
it is worth our while to be Christians at all, it is 
worth all the zeal, interest, and devotion we can 
give to it. If we have been lukewarm and indif- 
ferent, dividing our hearts between God and the 
things of the world, trying to keep up a name 
for discipleship while our feelings are left to run 
after the pleasures, gains, and honors of this life, 
the time has come for us to make a more serious 
matter of our religion. We must make an efiect- 



296 THE LETTERS OF JESUS. 

ual end of all spiritual insipidity, or it will make 
an effectual end of our hopes. And unless we re- 
pent out of our lukewarmness, and make a more 
earnest showing that we really wish to have place 
among the lyord's redeemed, we may as well be 
assured, first as last, that we shall never get it; 
for only 

Shame and sorrow wait 
On feeble feet, faint heart, and wavering eyes. 




Rev. 3 : 20 : " Behold, I stand at the door, and knock : If any man 
hear My voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup 
with him, and he with Me." 

HEN the lyord lifts His finger and says, 
Behold we may be sure of something 
marked and marvellous to be considered. 
And so it is in this instance. God help us, there- 
fore, to give heed! 

Many have taken the text as the tenderest ex- 
hibit of the Saviour's condescending love con- 
tained in the Scriptures, but all the depths and 
implications of the passage are mostly unper- 
ceived. The picture is indeed very affecting and 
tender, but it does not refer so much to the Sa- 
viour's present attitude toward the unconverted 
as to His attitude toward the Church itself in the 
period of His second coming. Its particular ref- 
erence is to that solemn time and that sad condi- 
tion of things to which the Saviour alluded when 
He spoke the parable of the Unjust Judge and 
said, "Nevertheless, when the Son of man com- 
eth, shall He find faith on the earth?" (I^uke 18 : 
8). It contemplates Him as now in some sense 

297 



298 



THE LETTERS OF JESUS. 



absent, but as then arrived and in large measure 
barred out of His own Church. 

The true application of the passage connects 
directly with a like presentation made in the 
Song of Solomon (chap. 5), some of the very 
language of which it repeats, and with the sub- 
stance of which it coincides. In that marvellous 
Song the bride is always the Church and the 
Bridegroom the Lord Jesus. In that chapter the 
bride is represented in a sleepy and dreamy state 
in the midst of the night, neither dead asleep like 
the rest of the world, nor yet entirely awake, but 
in a state between the two, answering to the 
neither-hot-nor-cold condition of the Laodicean 
church. In this condition her Lord comes for 
her, and finds Himself locked out. He stands by 
the door and knocks and calls for admission, just 
as in the text. But so languid and slow is she to 
open to her Lord, and pleads so many dilator}' ex- 
cuses, that by the time she gets full awake, and 
would gladly receive Him, she finds to her sorrow 
that He has gone. Thus she is left to seek Him 
amid distresses, sufferings, and losses, just as the 
unready multitude will be when the Lord 

Cometh to take His watching and waiting people 
— "left" to experience the great tribulation, and 
amid its griefs to wash their robes that they ma}^ 
not be among the utterly lost. 

In the same way the text identifies with what 



TO THE CHURCH OF LAO DICE A. 299 

the Saviour says in I^uke (12 : 35-38), where He 
exhorts His people: "Let your loins be girded 
about, and your lights burning; and ye yourselves 
like unto men that wait for their lord, when he 
will return from the wedding; tliat when he com- 
eth and knocketh^ they may open nnto him hmiie- 
diately. Blessed are those servants, whom the 
lyord when He cometh shall find watching: verily 
I say unto you, that He shall gird Himself, and 
make them to sit down to meat, and will come 
forth and serve them. And if He shall come in 
the second watch, or come in the third watch, and 
find them so, blessed are those servants." Here 
is precisely the same coming, the same knocking, 
and the same supping with those who open to 
Him, that we have in the text. 

The presentation likewise coincides with what 
is recorded in Mark (chap. 13), where it is writ- 
ten, ' ' The Son of man is as a man taking a far 
journey, who left his house, and gave authority 
to his servants, and to every man his work, and 
commanded the porter to watch. Watch ye, 
therefore; for ye know not when the master of 
the house cometh: at even, or at midnight, or at 
the cock-crowing, or in the morning. I^est com- 
ing suddenly. He find you sleeping. And what I 
say to you, I say unto all, Watch." The only 
difference is that the parable represents the com- 
ing to be in some indefinite time in the future, 



300 THE LETTERS OF JESUS. 

while in the text Christ is already come and 
standing before the door. Having been person- 
ally long absent, He at length returns to it in its 
last or Laodicean period, and knocks for admis- 
sion. He comes to His own house, but His pres- 
ence is not recognized nor His knocks responded 
to. The servants having lost all zeal, anxiety, 
and watchfulness for His return, and become in- 
different and unbelieving in general. He finds 
them eating and drinking, revelling and fighting, 
according to the common course of the world, and 
saying one to another. No danger that the Lord 
will come in our day, if ever. And so the whole 
house is in disorder, the porter off" his guard, and 
no one dreaming that it is Jesus giving His last 
merciful warning ere the great judgment breaks 
forth. 

Accordingly, the showing here is that in the 
period of the Lord's second coming there will be 
a season in which He will be present with the 
signals that His long-promised return has come, 
but during which He will specially knock and 
plead and lift up His voice, that haply some may 
recognize His call, and welcome Him to their em- 
brace and His rightful habitation. Though come 
with judgment-power to crush out everything that 
stands opposed to Him, He is loth to break in 
upon His wayward servants and consume them 
in His hot displeasure; therefore He stands and 



TO THE CHURCH OF LAO DICE A. 3OI 

knocks, giving to His unready people one last 
warning and opportunity, and sending shrill and 
startling summons throughout Christendom that 
if any will share with Him the glorious marriage- 
supper they may open to Him, as otherwise they 
must meet the doom of those left to suffer with 
hypocrites and unbelievers in the great tribula- 
tion, from which all who are zealous in watching 
and prayer and accounted worthy to escape and to 
stand before the Son of man have been taken. 

It was a sad and melancholy thing when, at the 
first advent, Jesus came unto His own and His 
own received Him not. But sadder still will it 
be when He comes again, having the complete 
fulfilment of all His promises in His hands, and 
the great body of His own Church does not know 
or acknowledge Him. It is bad enough when 
those who have never known Him, never counted 
themselves His friends, never tasted of His good 
word or the powers of the world to come, bar Him 
out from their affections and refuse to admit Him 
to their hearts; but for those baptized in His name, 
who have sworn allegiance to His authority, who 
profess to be marching under His flag, who have 
been entrusted with the guardianship of the treas- 
ures of His grace, word, and sacraments of love, 
not to know and acknowledge Him, to bar Him 
out of His own house, and to compel Him to 
stand outside knocking and begging that they 



302 



THE LETTERS OF JESUS. 



may open to Him, is the superlative of human 
apostasy, ingratitude, and unfeeling depravity. 
Hence the exclamation, "Hear, O heaven, and 
give ear, O earth: I have nourished and brought 
up children, and they have rebelled against Me!" 

x\nd yet, as He prayed for His murderers at the 
time of His crucifixion, so He is loth to abandon 
and overwhelm Hisingrateand degenerate Church, 
and at the last still holds His judgment back while 
He stands wuthout and knocks, if haply some may 
open to Him, that He may come in to them and 
sup with them, and they with Him, and not fall 
under His consuming wrath. 

There is indeed a sense in which the statement 
of the text is true during all the ages of the Church 
on earth. There is no time in which Jesus does 
not in a manner stand at the doors of those who 
hear His Gospel, knocking and calling for admis- 
sion with His saving grace. In the course of na- 
ture He is in no one's heart, but outside. Yet He 
stands proposing Himself to each as the needed 
Saviour. By His word. Spirit, and providence 
He pleads and calls and knocks for admission. It 
is a great and precious truth, never to be lost sight 
of, that the very Lord of glory stands before every 
heart, applying for place and supremacy in it that 
He may be its Lord and Saviour. Thus He ap- 
proaches every living soul among us, saying to it 
in many forms and intonations, " ]\Iy son, give 



TO THE CHURCH OF LA OD ICE A. 303 

Me thine heart." Often as He has been denied, 
He still continues to stand and call and wait and 
plead and knock. In every fresh message that 
sounds from the sacred desk, in every new stir of 
conscience, in every turn that awakens thought 
upon God, judgment, and eternity. His voice 
sounds, repeating again and again His gracious 
call, ^^My son^ give Me thine hearty 

And when the voice of the word is disregarded 
He speaks and knocks with the voice of the rod. 
The schemes of life are hedged up and defeated, 
fond possessions are swept away, health is de- 
stroyed, life is brought into peril, death strikes 
into the home, trouble shakes the soul, and one 
stroke after another in loud detonation is made, to 
get the poor drowsy sleepers awake, to open unto 
Him and let Him in as their proper Lord and Sa- 
viour. And many a time and long has Jesus thus 
been standing and knocking at the hearts of mul- 
titudes who have persisted till now in disregarding 
His calls and proposals, and have become so ha- 
bituated to their disregard of Him that some of 
these days they will have heard the last call of 
mercy, and neither hope nor help shall ever reach 
them more. 

But the standing and knocking described in the 
text is something specific and peculiar. What 
Christ here says connects above all with the refer- 
ences in the other Letters, where He speaks of 



304 



THE LETTERS OE JESUS. 



His coming to remove the candlestick from those 
of His people who repent not of the evils into 
which thev have fallen — His comino; to fi^ht 
against them with the sword of His mouth — His 
coming to relieve His suffering saints from all 
their burdens and to reward them that keep His 
works to the end — His coming as a thief to steal 
away His faithful watchers to Himself — His com- 
ing to keep those who keep the word of His pa- 
tience out of that hour of dreadful trial which is 
then to come upon all the world — His second 
coming, when He cometh to reckon with His 
servants, having His reward with Him, to give to 
every man according as his work shall be, — that 
coming of which the Scriptures everywhere say 
so much, and of which the Church of our day 
really believes and understands so little. 

The preaching of the Gospel and the ordinar}^ 
operations of grace and providence in the conver- 
sion of sinners is never called knocking unless it 
be in this lone passage. Nor is knocking at a 
door to notify of one's presence suggestive of the 
ordinary calling of souls into the kingdom of 
heaven. Knocking gives the idea of a degree of 
violence which may be friendly indeed, but does 
not fall in with the common motions of grace. 
Preaching the Gospel is the proclamation of mercy 
in the name and stead of one absent, while knock- 
ing is the announcement of one present and newly 



TO THE CHURCH OF LA OD ICE A. 305 

arrived, and in a way very different from the be- 
seeching of men to be reconciled to God. If it 
includes the ordinary operations of grace through 
the word, it unquestionably includes much more, 
and must be so understood. We find no such 
knocking spoken of in reference to either of the 
other churches. It has place only in the case of 
this church, with which the whole career of the 
Church in this world terminates by Christ's return 
to judge the quick and the dead. Nor is there 
any reference to Christ's second coming in all this 
Letter if not in this place. It must, therefore, in 
its more direct and particular meaning, belong to 
that period when the judgment is on the final 
verge of breaking forth upon the world— that 
period when Christ, if not already present unre- 
vealed, is on the very point of ushering in the 
momentous scenes of the great consummation. 

Precisely what this knocking is or is to be it is 
not given me to affirm, but it is unquestionably 
some loud enunciation of the personal presence 
of the Saviour returned to this world or of such 
an immediate nearness of Him in the great scenes 
of the judgment as to be the same as if here al- 
ready. His coming as a thief would seem to im- 
ply that He will be present and at work imknown 
to the world, while many will only be convinced 
of the fact by the missing of what He Has taken. 
And along with this coming as a thief in the 



3o6 



THE LETTERS OE JESUS ^ 



night this knocking occurs. It would therefore 
seem to be some special indication of His pres^ 
ence, answering to a newl3^-arrived visitor's knock 
at the door to make known to the inmates that he 
has come — a knocking which those who are prop- 
erly awake and waiting for Him will understand, 
and so respond as to be in position to welcome and 
receive Him to their everlasting blessedness. 

The Scriptures everywhere tell us of many signs 
and portents to be given as that notable day draws 
near. Jesus Himself tells us, ' ' There shall be 
signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the 
stars; and upon earth distress of nations, with 
perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; men's 
hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after 
those things which are coming on the earth: for 
the powers of heaven shall be shaken " (Luke 21 : 
25, 26); and His word to His people is, "When 
these things begin to come to pass, then look up, 
and lift up your heads; for your redemption draw- 
eth nigh " (Luke 21 : 28). And the sending forth 
through all the regions of nature such agitations 
and alarms, with man}^ other such disturbiug 
manifestations prophesied of that time, would 
seem to answer best to this knocking of the Sa- 
viour as He stands before the door to give His 
last warning call to His drowsy Church. 

And along with such signs and manifestations 
in the ordinary ongoing of things there will nat- 



TO THE CHURCH OF LAODICEA. 307 

urally and necessarily be the warning voice of 
many earnest servants of God, telling what these 
signs mean, and proclaiming aloud into the ears 
of a slumbering world that the hour of God's 
judgment is come, leaving no more time to be 
lost if they would have place in the ark of His 
salvation. 

Three distinct commissions are given in the 
parable which sets forth the calling of guests to 
the Marriage of the King's Son. The first went 
forth to the Jews, so long notified beforehand, but 
who behaved so badly in the case that the King 
sent forth His armies and destroyed those mur- 
derers and burnt up their city. Then went forth 
a second commission to invite everybody from all 
the streets and lanes of the whole world. It is 
under this commission that the ministers of sal- 
vation have been acting from that time to this 
present. But the parable tells of a third and final 
commission. When the servants returned word 
that all was done as commanded, and yet there 
was room, the Lord said, "Go out into the high- 
ways and hedges, and compel thevt to come in, that 
my house may be filled." This last commission 
tells of a degree of force and violence in the ful- 
filment of it which differs from those preceding it, 
and shows the rising up of a class of preachers 
with unwonted point and constraining urgency in 
their messages, reinforced by the alarming condi- 



308 



THE LETTERS OF JESUS. 



tion of things all over, giving to tlie last appeals 
of mercy a degree of shrillness and compulsive- 
ness never heard before. And this, it seems to 
me, is that particular note in the dispensations of 
God toward the drows}' Church and apostate world 
to which Jesus above all here refers. Standing 
as Judge before the door in the last extremity of 
time, He knocks by the signs and proclamations 
of His presence, that "if any man^^ hear His 
voice he may yet have part in the blessed mar- 
riage-supper of the Lamb. 

i\nd what, dear friends, if that time has already 
come and this knocking has already commenced ? 
Far off it cannot be. The symptoms of its near- 
ness are growing marvellously distinct, just as 
foretold, as all who will open their eyes may see. 
What a cry has of late years gone out over Chris- 
tendom, and is now sounding from many pulpits, 
books, tracts, and platforms, in all lands and lan- 
guages, saying, Behold^ the Bridegroom cometh^ 
go ye out to meet Him^\f Take the records of 
the last decade, or even the last five years, and 
when was there ever such uneasiness in the body 
of the earth, such disturbances in the seas, such 
singularities in the seasons, such marked violence 
in the motions of the elements, such unusual pres- 
entations in the conditions and relations of the 
heavenly orbs, such perplexing and ominous phe- 



TO THE CHURCH OF LAODICEA. 3O9 

nomena in the appearances of the sky ? When 
was there ever such perturbed and ugly fermenta- 
tion in the whole body of human society, such 
troubles, fears, distresses, embarrassments, and 
perplexities of nations, such discontent and rank- 
ling animosities between classes? When were 
there ever such numerous dark and bloody con- 
claves and combinations to set law at defiance, 
such disregard and overturning of the old land- 
marks and stabilities of the social fabric, such 
devilish passions plotting in secret and breaking 
out in all sorts of -wicked disorder and destruction 
to life and property? When were there ever so 
many scandalous corruptions in public and private 
virtue, and such an unprecedented spread of un- 
belief, decay of faith, and popular infidelity, de- 
pleting our sanctuaries, infesting our schools and 
colleges, lurking in the hearts of half the pro- 
fessed Church, and cropping out even in the very 
pulpits ? When was there ever such a multipli- 
cation and heaping up of fearful calamities and 
disasters of all sorts ? Who cannot see for him- 
self how outbreaking selfishness is everywhere 
pressing for supremacy, how lawlessness in law- 
makers and in subjects is growing, how moral 
obligation is being trampled under foot by great 
and small, and how everything shakes aud sways 
under the presence of a spirit which bodes only 
disaster and anarchy ? And what does all this 



3IO THE LETTERS OF JESUS. 

indicate but that the world to-day is verging upon 
the border-line of that dread time when God will 
let His judgment-thunders loose ? Who can deny 
that the nations at this hour are treading over vol- 
canoes that may any moment break forth and in- 
volve the world in ruins? And what, indeed, is 
to be made of all this, of which the newspapers 
are ever full — what can it mean — if it be not the 
great Judge standing before the door and knock- 
ing loud, that people may hear and answer in 
humble submission to His offers of mercy, lest 
they find themselves suddenly cut off for ever? 

And if it should be that we are even a little 
beforehand in interpreting this to be the Saviour's 
final knocking in mercy to arouse us to a right 
reception of Him, we shall not lose by believing 
that it is, and ordering ourselves accordingly. It 
is very certain that these are the last days of grace 
for some of us, and it is quite possible that these 
may be the last days of grace and warning that 
the Church shall ever have; so that if we would 
at all cherish the hope of having place with Jesus 
at the great supper to which He has bidden us, 
the argument is as urgent and constraining as it 
can be made to stir us up to earnest repentance 
of all past negligence and sin and to arouse in us 
a zeal in all that is good and sacred, that by di- 
vine mercy we may not have our portion with the 
unprepared and unsanctified. 



TO THE CHURCH OF LAO DICE A. 3II 



To this, then, dear friends, let us set ourselves 
with honest heart and firm trust, that when the 
Ivord Cometh we may be able to look up to Him 
and say, " lyO, this is our God; we have waited 
for Him, and He will save us: this is the I^ord; 
we have waited for Him, we will be glad and re- 
joice in His salvation." 

Behold, the Bridegroom cometh in the middle of the night, 
And blest is he whose loins are girt, whose lamp is burning bright ; 
But woe to that dull servant whom the Master shall surprise 
With lamp untrimmed, unburning, and with slumber in his eyes ! 



ilecture SEtoeiUietib. 



Rev. 3 : 21 : "To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with Me 
in My throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with My 
Father in His throne." 



HERB was a great promise contained in 



the verse last under consideration, which 



' ' deserves more notice than then could be 

given it. Standing at the door and knocking, the 
promise of the Saviour is: "7/^ any man hear My 
voice and open the door^ I will co7ne in to him^ and 
sup with him^ a7id he with Me^ Opening to Him 
is our work. He first comes to us. But then it 
is for us to answer to His signals and calls, to un- 
lock the bolted doors, and to meet and greet Him 
as our blessed Lord and Redeemer. To enable us 
to do this His Spirit is alwa3^s present to assist our 
natural weakness. And to any and every one who 
will thus open to Him He promises, first of all, to 
come in. 

In the previous verses He presented Himself as- 
a merchant from a far country, with refined gold 
and white raiment and healing medicines to be- 
stow upon those willing to buy of Him or to come 
to terms with Him. Here the proposal is to be- 




312 



TO THE CHURCH OF LAODICEA. 313 

come the i2,v;\\\\2s gitest of those who open to Him 
the doors of their hearts and homes. 

It may be very disturbing to have so great a 
Being come into onr unworthy dwellings. The 
thought of it may put us ill at ease. But Jesus is 
so good, so merciful, so benignly full of grace, 
that the moment He is admitted and bemns to 
show His unspeakable tenderness and condescen- 
sion the perturbation subsides ^nd all dread dis- 
appears. Making Himself at home with us in 
our homes, sitting down with us at our tables, 
blessing our bread, entering into familiar commu- 
nion with us as friend with friend, mercifully in- 
quiring into our hardships and trials, gently speak- 
ing away the shame and burden of our unworthi- 
ness and sins, pouring upon us the rich treasures 
of His wisdom and grace, drawing us with the 
cords of a man into sweet converse about the 
blessed things to come, and warmly taking us 
into fellowship with His saving greatness, we are 
made to feel that we have reached the happiest 
day uf our lives, and heaven itself seems to settle 
down upon our souls. And thus He offers to come 
in and sup with zis. 

But the further promise is to have us stip with 
Him. Entertaining Him, He proposes to enter- 
tain us. He means to give a supper to His saints 
— a supper proportioned to His greatness and 
goodness — at which He engages to give us place. 



314 



THE LETTERS OF JESUS. 



Receiving Him to sup with us at our earthly 
tables, He proposes to have us sup with Him at 
His heavenly banquet. And so great and glori- 
ous is the honor of place at that high festival that 
John Avas commanded to write, '^Blessed are they 
which are called unto the marriage-supper of the 
Lamb. " 

But in the verse now before ns we have a still 
more exalted promise. We may call it the prom- 
ise of promises; for it is the superlative of all the 
offers of grace. The Saviour here passes from 
gold and raiment and healing unction and social 
fellowship and festive communion to enthrone- 
ment and everlasting regency. 

When Christ was on earth He spoke of seats on 
His right hand and His left to be given to those 
for whom they are prepared. He also spoke of 
twelve thrones, on which His twelve apostles are 
to sit ' ' when the Son of man shall sit on the 
throne of His glory." And so the apostles, by 
His inspiration, continued to preach and teach 
that "if we suffer with Him, we shall also rgign 
with Him." In these and other places something 
of the royal prerogatives of His saints is implied. 
But nowhere in all the Scriptures do we find the 
immortal dignity of His faithful ones set forth in 
such distinct and impressive terms as in the text. 
More even than was promised to the apostles them- 
selves is here promised to every true believer. 



TO THE CHURCH OF LAODICEA. 315 

We are startled at the magnificence of the pro- 
posal: "7<? him that overcometh ivill I grant to 
sit zvith Me in My throne^ even as I also ovei^- 
came^ and am set doivn zvith My Father in His 
throne. ' ' 

Two thrones are here brought into contempla- 
tion: the Father's throne, in which Jesus now is 
seated with the Father, and a second throne, which 
He calls His ozvn^ as distinguished from the throne 
of the Father. 

When God brought His only-begotten into the 
world, and raised Him from among the dead. He 
not only commanded all the angels to worship 
Him, but said to Him, "Sit Thou on My right 
hand, until I make Thine enemies Thy footstool." 
Accordingly, we now "see Jesus, who was made 
a little lower than the angels for the suffering of 
death, crowned with glory and honor," " far above 
all principality, and power, and might, and do- 
minion, and every name that is named, not only 
in this world, but also in that which is to come." 
And this is that throne of the Father on which 
Christ now sits as "Head over all things," 
"henceforth expecting till His enemies be made 
His footstool." It is not the throne of David, 
which remains to be established on Mount Zion, 
nor yet the throne of the Son of man, which all 
the kingdoms of the earth shall obey; but the ab- 
solute God-throne.^ invisible, yet omnipotent, not 



3i6 



THE LETTERS OF JESUS. 



in the world, yet ruling over it, essentially spirit- 
ual because God is a vSpirit, and for ever unchange- 
able and irresistible because eternal. It is the 
throne which only Godhead can occupy, and on 
which Christ sits coregent with the Father as the 
true and only Son of God. And this throne He 
will for ever share by reason of His Godhead. 
But as the Christy He will not always remain upon 
the throne of the Father. We are told that there 
is a time coming when He will deliver it up and 
take another throne, of a more special and subor- 
dinate character, but more particularly His as the 
Son of man. 

When on trial before Pontius Pilate, He pro- 
fessed to be a King, and declared that for this 
purpose He was born. Daniel says, "I saw in 
the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son 
of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came 
to the Ancient of days, and they brought Him 
near before Him; and there was given Him do- 
minion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all peo- 
ple, nations, and languages should serve Him: 
His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which- 
shall not pass away, and His kingdom that which 
shall not be destroyed." Hence, speaking of His 
second coming, Jesus says, ^^Then shall He (the 
Son of man) sit upon the throne of His glory, and 
before Hiin shall be gathered all nations." And 
so John in his vision of the coming forth of " the 



rO THE CHURCH OF LAODICEA. 317 

Word of God" to destroy the Beast and false 
prophet, speaks of Him as crowned with many 
crowns and wearing on His vestnre and on His 
thigh the invincible Name, King of kings and 
Lord of i^ords. And this is the Christ-throne 
as distingnished from the eternal God-tJirone. 
The one is the centre and snmmit of the absolute 
God-power; the other is the centre and summit 
of the subordinate Man-power, made sure and 
firm for ever in the God-man, the successful 
Redeemer. 

Christ's throne, as distinguished from the Fa- 
ther's throne, is the throne of the Son of man — 
"that part of infinite power, that function and 
charge, which God originally intended man to 
occupy, and which Christ the Man-Redeemer of 
man shall occupy in the fulness of the times." 
It is not the throne of David merely, for that re- 
spects only the people of Israel; but it is the 
throne of man taken at its highest, as the Man 
Christ Jesus is the summation of all humanity. 
It is that throne which would have come to Adam 
had he never sinned, and which now conieth to 
Christ as the victorious second Adam, the Recov- 
erer and Restorer of all things, and on which He 
is to reign for ever over the world He has re- 
deemed. It is that throne of abiding dominion 
which comes into place when all the sovereignty 
of this world becomes the sovereignty of our Lord 



318 



THE LETTERS OE JESUS. 



and of His Christ, and the Son of man takes the 
reins of empire over all the earth, in place of all 
the dragon-powers which now have the rule ovei 
it. And with reference to that throne the prom- 
ise to every overcomer is that he shall share it 
with Christ, as Christ Himself also overcame and 
is set down with the Father on the Father's 
throne. 

One of the marvels in this case is that this 
promise, for the first time so clearl}' given, is ad- 
dressed to these faulty Laodiceans, wdiom Jesus 
had just now threatened to reject with loathing. 
But the more there is to be conquered, the greater 
the glory of the victory. The highest place is 
wnthin reach of the lowest. The faintest spark 
of grace in the most unfavorable atmosphere may 
yet be fanned into the mightiest flame. Nor is 
there any one of us, or any sinner now walking 
on our streets, who may not rise by the vigor of 
penitence and faith in Christ to a place even with 
the King of glory on His everlasting throne. 

Nor is it an empty honor or a meaningless cere- 
monial to be granted place with the Son of man 
on His throne. Not for parade-badges do the 
children of the resurrection get their dignities. 
Advanced to the throne of regency, they are not 
sham kings, any more than Christ's accession to 
dominion with the Father is a mere matter of 
form and ceremony. Titles and names are not 



TO THE CHURCH OF LA OD ICE A. 319 

hollow designations in heaven. The session of 
the Son of God on the right hand of eternal 
Majesty is the putting of all power in His hands 
and the putting of all things in subjection to Him, 
leaving nothing but the eternal Father Himself 
that is not put under Him. And like as Jesus is 
set down with the Father on the Father's throne, 
so every overcomer is to be set down with Jesus on 
His throne. Whatever the offices of the throne 
shall be, in the same shall all overcomers share. 
Enthroned with Christ, they are to " reign with 
Him," and participate in all the doings of His 
kingdom and government. "Do ye not know 
that the saints shall judge the world ? . . . Know 
ye not that' we shall judge angels?" (i Cor. 6 : 2, 
3). Did not John in vision behold the saints 
seated upon thrones, with powers of rulership 
put into their hands, and living and reigning 
with Christ in holy and immortal dominion? 
Does not the Psalmist celebrate it as the final 
honor of all the saints, "to execute vengeance 
upon the heathen and punishments upon the 
people; to bind their kings with chains, and 
their nobles with fetters of iron; to execute upon 
them the judgments written"? (Ps. 149:6-9). 
Hath not the Saviour Himself said, "Verily, 
verily, I say unto you. He that believeth on Me, 
the works that I do shall he do also, and greater 
works than these shall he do"? (John 14:12). 



320 



THE LETTERS OF JESUS. 



As kings with Christ the saints are to fill the 
place and do the work of kings. They are to 
' ' reign with Him ' ' as truly as ever Solomon or 
David reigned, and as truly as the Son of man 
Himself shall reign. 

The end of our salvation is not to sit on clouds 
and sing psalms, or to luxuriate in the idle bliss of 
an eternal languor and ecstasy. The life of Christ 
upon His Father's throne is an intense and busy 
life, administering the kingdom of the universe; 
and the life of the saints consociate with Him on 
His throne is to be in its degree of the same sort. 
They are called, redeemed, and glorified for sub- 
lime regency with their Lord; and in whatever 
pertains to the administration of His kingdom as 
the Son of man they are to participate, being 
joined with Him then as the angels are joined 
with Him now in the administrations of the God- 
throne; yea, and in still closer union, for by His 
saving grace they are related to Him on the hu- 
man side as He is related to the Father on the 
divine side. 

But such exalted dignity and honor do not come 
without earnest effort and hard conflict. Only the 
overcomers are to sit with Christ on His throne. 
There are battles to be fought and risks to be run 
and enemies to be vanquished and difficulties to 
be conquered before we are eligible or prepared 
for such transcendent promotion. 



TO THE CHURCH OF LAO DICE A., 32 I 

One of the most coinmoii images under which 
the Scriptures set forth Christian life is that of a 
fight — a heavy conflict with powerful hindrances 
and enemies. It is constantly reiterated in these 
Letters. Every true Christian is a soldier and has 
a warfare on hand to fight through to victory. 
This is the picture everywhere. 

The particular trouble with these Laodiceans 
was their lukewarmness, their worldliness, their 
boastful self-complacency, their lack of deep and 
earnest spirituality. With this, therefore, their 
particular fight was to be. Their easy-going in 
the matters of faith and devotion was to be van- 
quished and a better order of things maintained. 
And on this field they were required to overcome 
before they could inherit this glorious promise. 

But their case was not peculiar. In all ages 
and places this same trouble is to be met. It is 
the particular trouble with the Church of our day. 
The half-Christian and half-worldly condition of 
modern religionists is destroying the souls of many 
who think themselves well on the way to heaven. 
This, then, is the enemy which we must fight and 
conquer if we would reign. 

But various and many are the Christian's foes. 
Deep within us and everywhere around us they 
rise up to keep us from the prize. In our own 
hearts great hosts of them are lodged. Here are 

thousands of promptings to unbelief and self-in- 
21 



322 



THE LETTERS OF JESUS. 



diligence, multitudes of lusts after evil things, and 
many uprisings of bad temper, pride, ugly pas- 
sions, and evil dispositions. 

x\long with these inward enemies are many out- 
ward ones to reinforce them. Our lives lie throuofh 
a world adverse to God and holiness — a world full 
of gayeties and follies, cares and vexations, false 
maxims and unholy ways, flattering promises and 
treacherous caresses, and a thousand things to hin- 
der a life of faith and godliness. 

And back of all is the great combination of evil 
spiritual powers, the devil and his angels, ruling 
in the children of disobedience and ever active 
in using their hold upon the world and human 
nature to prevent the rise and progress of faith 
and righteousness. Our wrestling is not with flesh 
and blood only, but with principalities and pow- 
ers, those that rule in the darkness of this world 
and infest the whole realm of the air we breathe. 

These spiritual enemies are insidious, and have 
many ways of access to our hearts and feelings, to 
catch aAvay or stifle the good and to incite to evil. 
Though under limitations and constraints, we 
need to be on special guard against their wiles 
and cunning assaults, and nothing but vigorous 
resistance can protect us from their snares and 
wicked machinations. 

It is hence impossible for any one to be carried 
to heaven on a flowery bed of ease. Every inch 



rO THE CHURCH OF LA OD ICE A. 



of the way is disputed by adverse influences and 
subtle foes. And if we are to get through in ul- 
timate triumph we must fight and keep np the 
conflict unto victory. 

Considering the number and power of these 
enemies, and the poverty of our strengtli, we 
might well despair. But Christ has conquered 
for us, and has made it possible now for every 
one of us to conquer also through His strength 
and grace. Evil is not omnipotent. It is under 
ban, and the promise of the Almighty is that if 
we are true to ourselves and to Him, He will not 
sufier us to be tempted beyond what we are able 
to bear. He hath appointed for us the weapons 
of success, and put them at our command for 
every emergency, whether for defence or attack. 
With God's truth we may amply gird our loins. 
The righteousness of Jesus serves as an effectual 
breastplate. There is Gospel provision to protect 
our feet. Faith is a shield wherewith to quench 
the fiery darts of the wicked one. An already- 
wrought salvation is an ample helmet. The word 
of God is the sword of the Spirit by which to hew 
our way through all opposing ranks. Pra}'er ever 
keeps open communication with the heavenly 
throne for all needful supplies. And from Him 
who sits upon it the assurance is: "My grace 
shall be sufficient for thee." There is now, 
therefore, no doubt of our success if only we set 



324 



THE LETTERS OE JESUS. 



ourselves to conquer and use the means provided 
for our victory. But there must be honest effort 
and determined perseverance to bring us through. 

We know how Jesus overcame. We know the 
devotion with which He gave Himself from the 
beginning to be about His Father's business. We 
know how meekly He came to receive baptism 
from John in His earnestness to fulfil all right- 
eousness. We know with what steadfastness He 
endured and foiled the temptations of the devil 
against all the solicitations of carnal appetite, 
worldly ambition, and challenges to prove Him- 
self the Son of God. We know with what earn- 
estness and fidelity He pursued His sacred mis- 
sion, and in all His trials committed Himself unto 
God as unto a faithful Creator. We know with 
what zeal He kept up His constant prayers and 
communings with Heaven amid the exhausting 
toils of earth. We know with what holy meek- 
ness He submitted to abuse, torture, shame, and 
death that He might fulfil the purpose of the 
Father in sending Him into the world. And we 
also know the result — how that He thus overcame 
and is set down with the Father upon the throne 
of eternal Majesty, "leaving us an example that 
we should follow His steps," and thus overcome 
as He overcame, and sit with Him on His throne 
as He overcame and is set d6wn with His Father 
on the Father's throne. 



TO THE CHURCH OF L. 10 DICE A. 325 

Dear friends, it may cost us heavily in these 
last evil times to maintain ourselves in true and 
faithful Christian life; but the glory to be gained 
is worthy of it. Hot and trying as the battle with 
self and sin may be, the victory is sure and the 
reward is a place with Jesus on His everlasting 
throne. Therefore, let us not be weary of the 
strife nor ever give up the fight. Heaven is with 
us in our efforts. Victory must come if we flinch 
not, and immortal regency is the goal of our hon- 
est fidelity. 

Some, indeed, have thought it an ill covetous- 
ness of honor for us poor mortals to aim and strive 
for such high place in the world to come. They 
speak of it as savoring of carnal desire to think 
of attainino- crowns and reio;nino^ as kino;s. And 
some appear to regard it as a token of their su- 
perior modesty that they never indulge in such 
lofty ambition and have no wishes for princely 
dominion. But such people do greatly mistake 
what true spirituality is. We are exhorted to 
"covet earnestly the best gifts." Jesus Himself 
again and again speaks of crowns, and holds them 
forth to our view as the prize of our high calling, 
and charges each Christian to be diligent and hold 
fast that no one take liis crown. And here the 
direct promise is, that whosoever shall press the 
good fight of faith through to victory He will 
grant to sit with Him in His throne, as He over- 



326 



THE LETTERS OF JESUS. 



came and is set down upon the Father's throne. 
And shall we take it for piety to charge Him with 
extravagance and falsehood in the promises He 
gives to His people? Shall we put the lie upon 
what issues from our Saviour's lips, and call it 
devout modesty ? 

I cannot but regard it as a sorry humility which 
claims to be more spiritual than Jesus and to know 
better than He wdiat is fitting to be set before us 
as the goal of our Christian devotion. Is it not a 
pitiable meekness which would say to the glorious 
Son of God that we have no wish for His offered 
thrones, and that to sit and reign with Him is 
something \ve do not desire ? Is it not a poor 
appreciation of what He has secured for us, and 
bordering on unfaith itself, to decline aspiration 
to what is held forth to us as the prize for which 
we are to aim ? Alas, alas, for the miserable las- 
situde of spirit, the gross indifference, the hazard- 
ous questioning of the divine promises, and the 
dangerous doubting of the Saviour Himself, for 
us to put aw^ay from us all thought and effort to 
share these exalted honors! And if we do not 
care to have theui, we may be sure we shall never 
ofet them, and the dano-er is that we ma\- never 
reach heaven at all. To despise dominion or to 
speak evil of dignities certainly is not one of the 
things belonging to proper saintship. 

Let us beware, then, how we undervalue the 



TO THE CHURCH OF LA OD ICE A. 327 

proposals and promises of our Saviour. Let us 
rather rejoice and be glad that He hath made it 
possible for us to become immortal princes, to 
reign with Him on His throne, and to share the 
dominion of the world to come. And as we value 
eternal kinghood let us bestir ourselves all the 
more earnestly to "fight the good fight of faith," 
knowing that there is laid up for us a crown of 
righteousness, which the Lord the righteous Judge 
shall give us at that day, and not to us only, but 
to all them that love His appearing. 

Thou Crucified ! the cross I carry, 

The longer may it dearer be ; 
And, lest 1 faint while here I tarry, 

Implant Thou such a heart in me 
That faith, hope, love may flourish there, 
Till for my cross the crown I wear ! 



iLecture 2rtoentj)=:fir!St. 



Rev. 3 : 22 : " He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit 
saith unto the churches." 




HHSH words bring us to the conclusion of 
these sacred Letters of our lyord. For the 
seventh time in the course of these ad- 
dresses they are here repeated. But they do not 
appear in the same place in each instance. In 
the first three Letters they precede the final prom- 
ise, and in the last four they follow that promise. 
The change seems to be connected with the growth 
of evil in the Church. In the first and purer 
churches these words are spoken more from with- 
in, and in the case of those in which the evil pre- 
ponderated they are spoken more from the out- 
side. 

There is such a thing as grieving the Holy 
Spirit, and thus diminishing His gracious influ- 
ences. We read of a place in which Christ did 
not many mighty works because of the unbelief 
of the people. So, as the Church lapses from 
truth, purity, and love, and takes up with what 
is contrary to Christ, He is in some sense forced 



TO THE CHURCH OF LAODICEA. 329 

away from it, and His communications come to it 
more from without and from a distance than from 
the intimacies of a close fellowship and nearness. 
The apostle tells us that drawing nigh to God, He 
draws nigh to us; and the converse of this must 
also be true. And as the last four of these churches 
show more evil in them than good, the Saviour 
ceases to speak this word as from within the 
Church, and speaks it from the outside — not, in- 
deed, as having abandoned His Church, but as 
having been in measure pushed out of that thor- 
ough oneness with it which existed in better 
times. 

But whether this is the true reason for this 
studied change of the position of this call or not, 
the words themselves have great significance, 
which we should not fail to lay to heart. 

I. We are here assured that the Lord hath 
spoken and given to men a revelation of His 
mind and will. At sundry times and in divers 
manners God spake in time past unto the fathers 
by the prophets; and in tliese last days He hath 
spoken by His Son, whose words have been con- 
firmed unto us by them that heard Him. And in 
these seven Letters we have a special word from 
heaven. He who dictated them is the Alpha and 
Omega, the First and the Last, He who hath the 
seven spirits of (lod and lioldeth the keys of death 



330 



THE LETTERS OF JESUS. 



and hell, the Son of God, the Amen, the Begin- 
ning of the creation of God. What He utters He 
also authenticates as "what the Spirit saith." 
John also records the same as "words of proph- 
ecy," received when "in the spirit," and given 
him from the invisible heavenly world to be made 
known to the churches. There is then a word of 
God on earth to teach us the true mind and will 
of Heaven. 

II. We are here assured that these divine utter- 
ances are intended for all people. The call of the 
text is as universal as language can make it. 
Every one that hath an ear is called upon and 
admonished to " hear what the Spirit saith unto 
the churches." The meaning is not merely that 
every one in Bphesus was to give attention to 
what was written to the angel of the church in 
Ephesus, that every one in Smyrna should hear 
what was written to the angel of the church in 
Smyrna, and so on of the several communities in 
these several cities. Nor is the meaning simply 
that all in these several cities were to be careful 
to consider all these several Letters. There were 
then, and have been since, and are now, very 
many other people having ears to hear. You and 
I and all men the world over have ears to hear, 
and are as well capacitated by nature and grace to 
take in these messages as the people who then 



TO THE CHURCH OF LA OD ICE A. 33 I 



lived. And wherever there is an ear to hear, to 
that ear is addressed "what the Spirit saith unto 
the churches." 

These Letters of Jesus are thus divinely put for- 
ward for ottr instruction and profit equally with 
any who lived before our time. Bach of these 
several churches was of course expected to give 
special heed to what was specially addressed to it; 
and so also each Letter had its special application, 
prophetic and otherwise, to its particular period 
in the successive ages of the Church's earthly ca- 
reer; but all was for all in every age, and for us 
now as well as for any other people. 

I cannot therefore but think that the Church in 
these later times has done injustice to herself and 
behaved unseemly toward her Lord in not assign- 
ing these Letters of Jesus a higher and more dis- 
tinguished place in the Lessons set to be read in 
her worshipping assemblies. There is no richer 
portion of Scripture; there is no portion made up 
more exclusively of the words of Christ; nor is 
there another portion so solemnly, so urgently, or 
with such special sanctions pressed upon the at- 
tention of all who would be Christians. And yet 
in proportion to the imperativeness of the Sa- 
viour's call to hear what He has thus given has 
been the dereliction of the Church of the last 
thousand years to neglect it. This should not 
so be. And as men would honor Jesus, and be 



332 



777.^ LETTERS OF JESUS. 



true to His word as our Lord and Judge, I call 
upon them to repent and reform from this ill way 
of dealing with these momentous messages from 
His throne. They are His messages to His pro- 
fessing Church of all time. And I cannot see how 
people are to fulfil their duty as Christ's disciples, 
and yet ignore and neglect these His last and most 
special communications as if they were of no par- 
ticular interest to us. Dear friends, let us not 
share in that neglect. 

III. We are here assured that the contents of 
these Letters are of transcendent import. Our 
Saviour repeatedly used exactly similar expres- 
sions when He was on earth, and always in con- 
nection with things of vital character. It was a 
vital thing for the Jews to understand the charac- 
ter, mission, and testimony of John the Baptist. 
It is a thing of vital moment to understand the 
operations of grace and our duty with regard to 
the same. ^Momentous are the facts touching the 
nature and condition of the kingdom of heaven 
in this world, the ending up of things at the ter- 
mination of the present dispensation, and the ul- 
timate fate of the tares and the wheat. It is of 
very great account for us to know what is spirit- 
ual defilement and spiritual purity, and what is 
true and consistent righteousness before God. 
And for the people who live in the last perilous 



rO THE CHURCH OF LA OD ICE A. 333 



days of the great Antichrist nothing is more im- 
portant than to be able to identify the Beast and 
to know the speedy and inevitable perdition of 
all who worship him and receive upon them his 
mark. But it is with reference to these very 
things, and these only, that these particular words 
are used. In each of those instances they are 
given but once, while here they are uttered seven 
times, and each time including the whole body of 
these Letters. Unquestionably, then, in the mind 
and estimate of the Lord we have here what is of 
superlative doctrinal and practical importance. If 
the same truths ma}' be fragmentarily gathered 
from other parts of Holy Scripture, we have them 
here in concrete and formal summation and prac- 
tical application, such as we find not elsewhere. 

If we would know the true nature, offices, and 
glory of our divine Lord and Redeemer, we here 
have Him presented and described by Himself 
in sententious fulness and originality beyond any 
other part of the sacred word. 

If we would know the nature, organization, re- 
lations, dangers, duties, and career of the Church, 
how its responsibilities are distributed, and what 
in any department or period of its history is ap- 
proved or disapproved by Christ, and how in any 
case it must fare in His judgment, we have it here 
most succinctly given in His own words. 

If we would know wherein true Christian life 



334 



THE LETTERS OF JESUS. 



or saintship consists, with what sort of dangers 
and conflicts it is beset in this world, in what 
temper and attitude we are to keep ourselves 
with regard to our various relations and sur- 
roundings that we may come off conquerors at 
the last, there is no place where the same is 
more vividly set forth. 

If we would know exactly w^hat Jesus thinks 
of the many grave matters which have developed 
among' Christian professors in the several ages of 
the Church, and which still agitate, divide, and 
distract it, we here have His mind upon them 
direct from His throne. Every honest and faith- 
ful student can here see how He puts His finger 
upon each particular, and speaks His words of 
praise or of condemnation. We may find else- 
where what, if rightly applied, w^ould conduct us 
to the same conclusions; but we have here not 
onh' principles whose applications we must infer 
and reason out in our weak and uncertain way, 
but the facts and conditions themselves are brought 
under the all-penetrating e^-e of the Saviour and 
authoritatively pronounced upon by Him. In- 
deed, we here have the mind of Christ with ref- 
erence to all important developments, tendencies, 
s} stems, and conditions in the Church from the 
beginning till now, in a form much less mistak- 
able and more direct than anywhere else. 

And if we would know what is to be the future 



TO THE CHURCH OF LAODICEA. 335 

of the saints after this present order of things 
comes to an end, and get a deep insight into the 
life and honors which the second coming of Christ 
is to bring to His redeemed ones, the several prom- 
ises in these Letters present a body of particulars 
in this regard unexcelled by any other part of 
Scripture. A completer description of those good 
things which Jesus has in reserve for His true and 
faithful people is not found in all God's word. 
All commonplace ideas of heaven are here put to 
utter shame as not reaching so much as the first 
syllables of the sublime charter of the rights and 
honors forepledged to us by our Lord. 

These are things of priceless value, and fully 
warrant all the urgency with which they are 
pressed upon universal attention. 

IV. We are here assured that it is the will of 
our Lord that we should earnestly study and prac- 
tically apply what is given us in these Letters, 
and dispose our thinking, hopes, and activities 
accordingly. Nothing less than this is included 
in the hearing to which the text refers. To hear 
only with the outward ear, to have a mere intel- 
lectual acquaintance with what has thus been dic- 
tated from heaven, does not fulfil the audience the 
vSaviour calls for. Having given us ears. He has 
given His word that we may use our ears to take 
it in, and thus to "ponder it and profit by it. The 



336 



THE LErrEKS OE JESUS. 



admonition corresponds to what was said at the 
opening of the book, where it is written, "Blessed 
is he that readeth, and they that hear the words 
of this prophecy, a?id keep those things ivhich are 
zvritteii therein^ It is the same that the Saviour 
elsewhere relates of the good-gronnd hearers, 
"who in an honest and good heart, having heard 
the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with pa- 
tience. " 

There is a hearing which so lacks in apprecia- 
tion or is accompanied with such indifference that 
the devil has no trouble in preventing it from 
making any practical impression on the heart. 
There is also a hearing which for a while enter- 
tains and believes, but is content with such a su- 
perficial regard, and takes in only to such shallow 
depths that all good from it soon wilts and per- 
ishes. There is also a hearing with ever}- prom- 
ise of thrifty growth and ample harvest, w^hich, 
however, allows itself to be so invaded "with 
cares, riches, and pleasures of this life that they 
choke and smother proper fruitfulness. But all 
such hearing falls far short of the hearing de- 
manded in the text. This is a hearing which 
gives earnest and studious attention, which takes 
the matter to heart in all the depths of the soul, 
and which allows nothing to interfere with a de- 
vout, practical, and persevering conformity to 
what is heard and learned. 



TO THE CHURCH OF LA OD ICE A. 337 



These pictures of Jesus, His glory, power, 
offices, all-searching knowledge, and infallible 
judgments, are spoken directly to the heart, that 
they may affect and move us to right faith and 
fear. These sharp rebukes and sentences upon 
wrong are for us to take home to our souls, that 
we may get us out of everything thus condemned 
and stand in awe of the solemn threatenings of 
our Lord. These gracious encouragements and 
grand promises are meant to take hold of our 
imaginations, quicken our heavenly desires, and 
inflame our anticipations, that the vain things of 
this world may dwindle from our regard and our 
whole affection be set on the things above. Nor 
have we rightly heard ' ' what the Spirit saith unto 
the churches" till we come to this temper and 
state of mind and heart; for the Gospel is not to 
be to us a thing of word onh', but of power. 

V. And yet one other important matter is sig- 
nified in the text; and that is the intensely per- 
sonal character of what is liere demanded. The 
Saviour is addressing ministers and congregations, 
but after all it is the separate individuals that are 
to give ear and do this hearing. 

We are apt to lose ourselves in tlie mass. The 
community, the country, the church, tlie general 
body, is prone to preoccup}' the attention, while 
we lose sight of the individuals of which every 
22 



338 



THE LETTERS OE JESUS. 



society is made up. But it is the nature of Chris- 
tianity to single out and give importance to the 
individual man and woman. It deals not with 
people in masses, but with each soul separately, 
and by working upon and from the individual it 
seeks to affect and condition society. As the 
builder takes stone by stone to build his walls, so 
Christ takes people one by one to make up His 
Church; and there is neither sanctification nor 
Church except as individual souls are moved and 
sanctified and personally brought into right rela- 
tions to God. 

Hearing is a personal thing. It cannot exist 
apart from the individual who hears. Others can- 
not hear for us if we do not hear for ourselves. 
The Church, the community, the society cannot 
hear for us if there is no hearing on the part of 
the individuals who compose them. One man 
cannot believe for another man, any more than 
we can eat or sleep for one another. Each must 
do his own repenting, believing, and serving of 
God, just as he must die for himself and stand in 
the judgment for himself. And hence the hear- 
ing of which the text speaks is devolved upon 
each individual soul the same as if no others 
existed. 

It is very significant that while the church, the 
congregation as a whole, is rebuked, reprimanded, 
encouraged, exhorted, or advised, the promise is 



TO THE CHURCH OF LAO DICE A. 339 

always to the individual and in the singular: "To 
him that overcometh;" "//^ that overcometh;" 
" Be tJiou faithful unto death, and I will give iJiee 
a crown of life." And so the command in each 
instance is: "//^ that hath an ear, let hivi hear 
what the Spirit saith unto the churches." What 
is said to the body it is made the duty of each in- 
dividual person to deal with for himself and her- 
self We cannot go to heaven under our neigh- 
bor's cloak. We cannot shift our individual re- 
sponsibilities to other people's shoulders. We 
cannot hide ourselves in the multitude when we 
come before the bar of God. Not as others view 
Christ, but as we individually view Him — not as 
others hear His voice, love, honor, and obey Him, 
but as we for ourselves do it — not as others believe 
and strive and overcome, but as we personally take 
hold and press our own way to victory — are we to 
inherit the promises. And until we learn to file 
out singly in these matters of grace and salvation, 
and individually hear, appropriate, and act, no 
paradise, no crown, shall we ever reach. 

Dear friends, how is it, then, with us? To 
what extent have these sacred lyctters of our Lord 
served us " for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, 
for instruction in righteousness " ? We have been 
lingering long over these solemn communications 
of Jesus to His churches. Have we been giving 



340 THE LETTERS OE JESUS. 

to tliem a reverent ear and an attentive heart? 
Very many precions truths, like pearls- from 
heaven, have met us in the way. Have we 
seized upon them as they came and appropriated 
them for the enrichment of our souls? Many 
sweet sounds of heavenly music have fallen upon 
us from the lips of our glorified Saviour. Have 
they served to charm away our hearts from the 
strifes and scrambles of earthly greed and the so- 
licitations of earthly vanities? We have been 
hearing of many stern rebukes for decline in first 
love, for departures from the pure faith, for hypo- 
critical zeal and false profession, for worldly con- 
formity and the indulgence of worldly lusts, for 
the wearing of a name to live while dead in tres- 
passes and sins, for the self-complacent and self- 
deceived who think they are rich and increased 
with goods and have need of nothing, while 
wretched and miserable and poor and blind and 
naked. Have we then taken them to heart, and 
tried ourselves by the demands of God, and set 
ourselves to honest repentance where we have 
found ourselves included among the faulty ? We 
have been hearing many blessed commendations 
of labors and sulferings and patience and unflinch- 
ing perseverance in duty for the sake of Christ's 
name, and of the sublime rewards held out to 
every overcomer who is faithful unto death. 
Have they had the effect to inflame our zeal, to 



TO THE CHURCH OF LAODICEA. 34I 

strengthen our resolves, to encourage our hearts, 
and towed us to the word of Christ's patience? 
Certainly we have been brought very close to di- 
vine things. The light of heaven has been stream- 
ing over and about us. The lyord Jesus in His 
glory, in His survey of those who profess to be 
His people, in His threatenings to the defective, 
and in His solemn judgments, has come very near 
to us. And great responsibilities are thus de- 
volved upon our souls. Have we, then, been 
made better and furthered in our spirituality by 
what we have been called to contemplate ? We 
have been compelled to look at the approaching 
outcome of the whole present order of things, at 
the certain nearness of the end, at the coming 
tribulation which is to overtake this wicked world 
and all who have not made clean their escape from 
its sins and vanities, and how only those who 
watch and pray always and keep the word of 
Christ's patience shall be kept out of the dread- 
ful calamities which then shall come. Has it, 
then, moved us to the girding up of our loins, 
the trimming of our lamps, and the setting of 
ourselves in the attitude of men that wait for 
their Lord, that when He cometh and knocketh 
we may open unto Him immediately ? 

Dear friends, my heart is full, it is enlarged 
with desire, it swells with anxiety, that all who 
hear me on these great themes may be rightly ad- 



342 



THE LETTERS OF JESUS. 



vised of the truth and made alive to all that is 
contained in these messages of the Spirit. Here 
is light. Here is blessedness. Here is salvation. 
Here is glory everlasting. Here is the tree of life. 
Here is the crown of life. Here are the hidden 
manna and the white stone with the new name. 
Here are power and dominion and the possession 
of the Morning Star. Here are the white rai- 
ment of saintly dignity, enrolment with the ce- 
lestial citizens, and acknowledgment by the King 
before the eternal Father and His angels. Here 
are inbuilding and incorporation with the heav- 
enly temple as pillars of beauty and glory, in- 
scribed with the name of God and the name of 
the city of God and the new name of the great 
Redeemer. Yea, here is place at the marriage- 
supper of the lyamb, and place with Jesus on His 
throne as He has place upon the Father's throne. 
iVnd all is put within our reach and reserved for 
every one who will "fight the good fight of faith, 
laying hold on eternal life." I^et us appreciate 
and improve our privileges. Prophets and kings 
desired to see the things we see, and have not seen 
them, and to hear the things we hear, and have 
not heard them. Such opportunities can come to 
us but once, and the time of them is here and 
rapidly passing away. Any day the summons of 
God's trump may come to His believing and ready 
ones, saying, "Come up hither." And so, then, 



TO THE CHURCH OF LAODICEA. 343 

if any one hath an ear, let him hear what the 
Spirit saith unto the churches. 

Jesus is ready to hear us. He bids ils ask of 
Him whatsoever we need, and promises that we 
shall not ask in vain. Shall we not, then, give 
earnest heed to all His word, and ever pray that 
it may be to us the bread of life? 

•Far, far away, like bells at evening pealing. 
The voice of Jesus sounds o'er land and sea. 

And laden souls, by thousands meekly stealing, 
Kind Shepherd ! turn their weary steps to Thee. 

Rest comes at length ; though life be long and dreary, 
The day must dawn and darksome night be past ; 

All journeys end in welcomes to the weary, 

And heaven, the heart's true home, will come at last. 



THK END. 



r " 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS ^ 



0 040 431 267 4 



